


God's Ant Farm

by KrissyG927



Series: Daryl ZA stories [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:06:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 34,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24236995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrissyG927/pseuds/KrissyG927
Summary: A friend of mine and I were discussing on Twitter how it seems lately as if we are all in one giant ant farm and God, or whoever you think is up there in the sky is holding a giant magnifying glass at us just for fun. It's one thing after another, so I started thinking of a ZA story. I'm going to float this chapter out and see if anyone is interested.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Daryl ZA stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771432
Comments: 153
Kudos: 33





	1. Pictures of You

********I've been looking so long at these pictures of you  
That I almost believe that they're real  
I've been living so long with my pictures of you  
That I almost believe that the pictures are  
All I can feel********  
.

/////////////

Daryl overslept the day the world ended, well, the day it began to end. The sun was out, blaring through the dirty blinds that hung in the window. He rolled over trying to get away from it, it was too early and he was too hungover.

Eventually he shuffled out of his room and into the kitchen for coffee. Merle was sitting there at the table drinking his third cup and having a smoke, he offered one to Daryl and he accepted.

This day was getting started just like any day, with a headache and regret. Daryl didn’t remember a whole lot about the night before, but Merle filled him in. He had called Mina again, once he was drunk off his ass. He did that often, sometimes she answered, and sometimes she didn’t. She had not answered the night before and he had been disappointed.

Daryl did remember that part.

He missed her, and he knew she missed him, she never turned him away when he called or showed up at her door. They had slept together that one last time to say goodbye eight times. Last night, if she would have answered, it would have been nine.

The divorce was still so new, it had only been six months, people said it would get easier. They hadn’t fallen out of love, not really, but they couldn’t live together and sustain it.

Daryl knew that threatening to beat the shit out of every guy that looked at his wife was not the answer, he knew that, now. They had fought all of that out but it still stung, he hadn’t been able to control his jealousy and it had been the end of them.

It was pointless to beat himself up over it, Merle told him that every day, but Daryl was the sweet one. He blamed himself. Yes, he had a temper and yes he was insanely jealous, but that was just a Dixon trait, all the men in their family were like that.

Maybe if he had just done things differently though...

On July 10th at high noon it didn’t matter anymore, because that was when it all went down. There had been a new flu going around for weeks. First it was a news report of a sickness in another country that was highly contagious, killed people quickly and was not to be messed with. No one really paid attention until it was knocking on everyone's back door, it was in the USA in three weeks. Then it was an issue and then it was too late.

As this was going on, two towns over a police officer got shot in the shoulder during a shootout on the old Rt 9 highway. It was on the news and that had been the last piece of normal news that anyone had heard.

The army showed up soon after, took some people away and the rest were told that they should stay inside to be safe. He had been calling and calling Mina for days by then and there was still no answer, had she gotten sick? Had they taken her away? His heart couldn’t stand it. 

Soon the phone lines were jammed and he had convinced Merle to go with him to her place. They were leaving town to go to ground at their grandfather’s hunting cabin until the kaos blew over.

If the shit was hitting the fan he wanted to protect her, and Merle wasn’t surprised by that at all. That was his little brother. Mina wasn’t home and she wasn’t at work and by dark things were going downhill fast. They stayed in town for as long as they could but finally, the next day Merle convinced Daryl that they needed to leave before either the army came back or worse.

There were rumors and people were acting strange, there were killings in the streets. This was no time to be in town, they needed to go off the grid.

“Wait,” Daryl yelled as they were backing out of the driveway, Merle stopped and gave him a dirty look as he ran back into the house, down the hall to his bed room, He flew over the bed in a rush to get to his nightstand, yanked open the drawer and spilled everything on the floor. But he saw it go flying across the floor; a glint of gold and Daryl dived on the floor after it.

There was no way he was leaving without the ring she put on his finger seven years ago. On his way out the door he grabbed a picture of the two of them in happier times. In the picture Mina was sitting on the hood of his blue truck and he was in front of her, with her arm draped over his shoulders and their heads close together. They had been so in love, he still was and maybe she was too.

It was his favorite picture of them and had sat on his bedside table since they had split up.

////////////////////////////////

The way they had gotten together was not traditional at all but it didn’t matter, and it was all Merles doing. Naturally, his brother had known just what he needed; it had taken so much planning but it would be worth it. He wanted the old Daryl back, not this shell that existed before he met Mina. It had gone on long enough in Merle opinion, and it was ending tonight, no matter what he had to do.

At the age of 21, his brother Daryl got his first broken heart and Merle was not having this new Daryl, not one bit. His once outgoing and fun to be with brother had been replaced by a mopy, sullen sad sack, all because of Jennifer. 

That girl had done a number on him and it didn't look like he was ever going to come back from it.

Once his brother used to help work on cars or their bikes, he used to joke and even talk but he had lost all interest in everything. All because of a woman and not the right woman anyway in Merle’s opinion. He had plenty of time for girls and serious relationships; hell Merle was in his early thirties and still hadn’t settled down. 

There was only one cure for what was ailing his little brother and when Daryl pulled up that night after work Merle told him to shower and be ready for a night on the town. Daryl flipped him off as he walked by but he did what he was told.

Merle always took him out for his birthday and tonight he was legal to drink. The alcohol was going to flow that night until Daryl couldn’t remember that bitch’s name.

An hour later Dary was bitching because Merle had pulled up at a strip club. There was no talking Merle out of it, he was bound and determined to get his brother drunk and laid for his 21st.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl immediately hated the place, the music was too loud, and it was Pitbull, which was not his favorite type of music so he was already in a bad mood. There were two beautiful women on the stage but he could care less. He was still so fucked up over Jenny, and it had been six months. Happy Fucking Birthday.

*******Put it on my life, baby  
I make you feel right, baby  
Can't promise tomorrow  
But, I promise tonight, dale  
Excuse me, excuse me  
And I might drink a little more than I should tonight  
And I might take you home with me if I could tonight  
And, baby, I'ma make you feel so good, tonight  
'Cause we might not get tomorrow.*******

Merle was in his element as he ordered them two beers and the bartender carded Daryl, then wished him a happy birthday. They both turned and leaned against the bar to watch, Merle was enthralled with the dancers, who were both blonde and gorgeous. But there was the apathetic look on Daryl’s face and he had expected as much.

However, Merle had planned for that, he was a regular at this place and ate lunch there often, and he had a trick or two up his sleeve that Daryl didn’t know about.

////////////////////

After almost an hour the rowdy club music was replaced with something slower as the lights went down. Daryl and Merle both turned as Pony by Ginuwine came on and when the lights came back on there was one woman on the stage. She was dressed in a cream-colored camisole and matching shorts. It was pretty lingerie for sure, and against her tan skin and dark hair, she was a looker. On her head she wore a hat, but took it off to reveal a head of gorgeous curly auburn hair.

Daryl did like dark haired girls and Merle knew that.

A slow smile crossed Merle lips as he watched his brother set his third beer down on the bar and fixed his eyes on the stage. So he wasn’t dead after all, this was good.


	2. Meeting You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more about how Daryl and Mina met.

Daryl grinned like a fool and Merle was pleased, as he saw that she was posed on the chair like it was Flash dance; Daryl just shook his head until she moved and then he was dumbfounded. There was something about her body and the way she moved, Daryl felt like he knew her from somewhere. She was doing the female version of Channing Tatum’s well-known dance to the same song in Magic Mike. Daryl and most of the other men in the place were drooling almost immediately.

******I'm just a bachelor  
I'm looking for a partner  
Someone who knows how to ride  
Without even falling off  
Gotta be compatible  
Takes me to my limits  
Girl when I break you off  
I promise that you won't want to get off  
If you're horny let's do it, ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting, come and jump on it  
If you're horny let's do it, ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting, come and jump on it.*******

"Oh my God that's Mina Watson,” Daryl murmured to Merle as he shoved a handful of pretzels into his mouth. Daryl remembered her from school, but she had been in Merle’s class, a few years ahead of him.

Daryl also remembered many a night thinking of her when he was fifteen and she was eighteen or nineteen; she didn’t live far from them, and next door to his buddy, Charlie Pace. But the last he had heard she went away to school, also wasn’t she married? To his horror, she had seen him or at least it seemed she had. Mina was laying on a chair doing some kind of move with her legs up in the air and she turned her head towards them. 

"Jesus…" Daryl groaned, still shoving pretzels in his mouth absentmindedly because he could only think of her now. 

He wondered if this had happened to her before if other people they all knew had been to the club. Had Charlie seen her? Daryl felt his face redden as she made eye contact with both of them. They had been made.

“How about a birthday lap dance from that one?” Merle cackled, Merle knew all about him and Charlie spying on her when she used to sunbathe in her backyard.

“Don’t you fuckin dare.”

Merle cackled as they watched her dance around the chair with her hand on the back of it. There was a pile of money at her feet and she never took off a stitch of clothing. All the men in the place were throwing money at her despite this fact, Merle and Daryl included.

********My saddle's waiting, come and jump on it  
If you're horny let's do it, ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting, come and jump on it  
If we're gonna get nasty baby  
First, we'll show and tell  
Till' I reach your pony tail, oh  
Lurk all over and through you baby  
Until we reach the stream.******

/////////////////////////////

After her dance Merle set to tease the fuck out of Daryl. Just like all the other men in the place he was blown away from her performance. It was amped up because he knew her, he remembered clearly feeling like she was so out of reach in school. 

“Now don’t be staring at her tits when she comes over,” Merle cackled, as he turned to Daryl, “Ya got some drool here on your face.”

“Shut up.”

“Don’t act so scandalized, you saw more of her skin when you and that Pace kid and his binoculars watched her all those summers,” Merle started to reach in his pocket, “But god damn, she’s got me handing over my cash anyway.”

They watched as she came down off the stage to talk with customers, many of them were slipping her more money. She had a smile for all of them that was genuine and Daryl was mesmerized. He never took his eyes off of her, right up until she eventually made her way to them.

Merle immediately opened his arms to hug her, but let her initiate it, that was the rules of the place and he wasn't trying to get thrown out. 

“Last we heard you and Greg had run off to get married,” Merle immediately stated and motioned for the bartender to bring her a drink.

“Yea,” She smiled as the bartender brought her the drink Merle bought her, and she accepted a cigarette and a light from Merle, “About that?”

“No Bueno, huh,” Merle asked, and she was already shaking her head. Daryl had yet to say a word and Merle finally elbowed him in the ribs when she wasn’t looking.

“I ran faster than Katie Holms ran from Tom Cruise,” Mina said with a laugh and then Daryl laughed.

“So, how long have you been back?” Daryl finally spoke.

“Couple of months,” She said as she sipped her drink.

“Today is his 21st.” Merle announced to Daryl’s horror.

“Happy Birthday, Daryl.” She signaled the bartender and ordered him a drink, “Here you go birthday boy.”

She handed him a shot of whiskey, and one for Merle, they clicked their glasses together and drank. Daryl was about to die of embarrassment, so Mina decided to put him out of his misery.

“I gotta go mingle, it’s good to see you guys again.”

After the performance she had given, Daryl was not interested in looking at any other dancers that night. He grabbed a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and slipped it to her before she walked off.

After a while of mingling Mina gave Daryl a sweet smile from across the room and motioned for him to follow her.

“Get going, she wants you to go in the back room, I got ya a present after all.” Merle informed him when he made no move to go, “You’re getting the works, nothing says happy birthday like a titty fuck and a beer.”

Daryl was horrified and he turned white at the very thought of it. But Merle was firm and even pushed him forward.

“You’ve had a thing for that girl since you were fourteen, now’s your chance, don’t fucking blow it!”

Mina was professional as she led him through the dark club to the back room by the hand and Daryl was shaking in his boots. When she shut the door, Daryl immediately told her she didn’t have to do it, any of it. He offered to just tell Merle that she had and that he’d tip her still, but she wasn’t listening, she just led him to a chair in the middle of the room. 

"You never had a lap dance before did you?"

"No," Daryl shook his head. 

"Do you want it?"

There was music playing already, “Fire” By Bruce Springsteen and he was about to spontaneously combust. It would be worth it too. Without missing a beat Daryl nodded his head, he really wasn’t even sure what "it" actually was. 

"Then sit down…" She answered.

******I'm driving in my car  
I turn on the radio  
I'm pulling you close  
You just say no  
You say you don't like it  
But girl I know you're a liar  
'Cause when we kiss  
Ooooh, Fire********

Daryl reluctantly took the seat in the chair in the middle of the darkened room, but he was riled up, there was no denying it despite his embarrassment. Between trying not to make a fool of himself and trying not to get hard, he was on edge. Who was he kidding anyway he was 21, his dick got hard over a soft breeze. Tomorrow he would fucking kill Merle but tonight, he was a little drunk and her attention made him feel good. He hadn't thought of Jenny all night. 

Mina blessed him with another sweet smile as she dimmed the lights and turned up the volume on the old style record player. The crackling from the speakers brought him right back to his childhood and suddenly he was fifteen again.

When Mina approached him and Daryl just gulped as she straddled him and sat down on his lap. This was his fifteen year old self’s dream come true, if Charlie could see him now? The gods had surely smiled upon him tonight. 

“Are you OK, Daryl?” She could tell he was uncomfortable, and she was prepared to stop if he asked her to.

"Not really," He slurred as he closed his eyes and opened them again, “I got a feeling I’m gonna be real soon.”

"Can I touch you?"

He nodded vigorously, was that even a question? He thought to himself, "Do your worst…" 

"I want you to get your brother's money's worth," She teased as she took his hands and placed them on her hips, "You hold me right there, you can't touch me anywhere else."

Since this was way more than he ever thought he'd ever get to touch he was thrilled beyond belief. 

"Unless I say you can." She added as she moved her hips over his and his eyes rolled back into his skull, "I just might let you…"

********You had a hold on me  
Right from the start  
A grip so tight  
I couldn't tear it apart  
My nerves all jumpin'  
Actin' like a fool  
Well your kisses they burn  
But your heart stays cool*******

When he opened his eyes finally and watched her hips moving against him, Daryl was grateful for the alcohol in his system that was keeping him from cumming in his pants because he was right there immediately. 

"Mmmmm, there's just something about you …" She purred into his ear.

"It's ok Mina you don't have to just because…" He didn't want her to feel like she had to do anything she didn't want to just because Merle was paying, or say things to him just to be nice. 

He didn't get much time to think of it though, because then she kissed him; a real kiss, like a lover would give him and his head almost exploded.

"Your brother didn't pay for that…"

"Then I will." He answered immediately. 

"No," She assured him, "I wanted to do that." Then she kissed him again. She was into him, that was clear as her hands gripped his arms and she kissed him like they had been doing it for years. Jenny had never been into him, he knew that now. "And that, and this …" She ran her hands over his chest and rested her palms on his cheeks as they looked into each other's eyes. 

*****Romeo and Juliet  
Samson and Delilah  
Baby you can bet  
Their love they didn't deny  
Your words say split  
But your words they lie  
'Cause when we kiss  
Mmmmmm, Fire  
Fire

Burnin in my soul  
It's outta control********

Somewhere during the whole thing, in between kisses Daryl worked up the nerve to ask for her phone number. She hadn’t married that guy Greg, but a year later she married Daryl.


	3. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glad people are liking this story. ZA is not my forte, and I appreciate the support. I think I've written two other multi chapter ZA stories Daryl's Game (And Other Stories At The End Of The World) And Welcome to Nowhere, both starring Daryl of course with heavy Merle influence because I love Merle. I think there's a few oneshots too like Desperate. My point being I do not write it often, I'm more of an Alternate Universe girl, and after this chapter it's right into it...wish me luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I love you all!

“Are you named after Mina Harker?” Daryl asked her as they sat at the booth in the all night diner after last call at the bar. Merle had gone home hours ago, but Daryl stayed behind and they decided to start their first date. Mina never dated guys from the bar or kissed them, but there was something about him. He was different from the kid she remembered from high school.

Kissing him had been a spur of the moment thing, something she couldn't resist doing. But it felt so right, as if she would never kiss another man but him for as long as she lived. 

They clicked somehow, and when they touched each other in that back room, they had both felt something. She had been compelled to kiss him, feelings came up when they were alone that made her believe in destiny, in magic.

“Yeah, my family is kinda weird, my brother's name is Bram.” She laughed, and he was laughing with her. 

It was always so easy between them right from the start. Mina made a point of telling him she rarely dated anyone, let alone a customer. But something had convinced her that this time it would be alright, it had been pretty heated in that back room and Daryl was starry eyed over her for sure. But it was more, she agreed to go out with him and she took him home with her that night too.

They were never apart again after that night; until they were.

“That’s fucking hilarious.” He answered and Mina laughed too, she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed this way. Merle had given her a fist full of money at lunch yesterday and said he was bringing his brother in for his 21st; could she pay some attention to him?

Mina had agreed, but Merle got all of that money back the next day.

“It was either Mina or Claudia from Interview With The Vampire, personally I would have been fine with that too.”

“I’m named after my mother’s brother, and Merle after her father, nothing as unique and exotic as you,” He mused.

“Well,” She answered, “Your family must just be normal then?”

“Have you met my brother and I at all?” He laughed, “And we’re the most normal of all them.”

They laughed a lot in the years they were together, they fought just as hard; loved harder. He missed her every day.

///////////

******Remembering you  
Standing quiet in the rain  
As I ran to your heart to be near  
And we kissed as the sky fell in*********

She took him home with her that first night and part of Daryl thought that she was just throwing him a fuck because it was his birthday. A girl like her with a guy like him? It was hard to wrap his head around it, but he did feel it. There was something going on with her that had never happened before.

If it was a pity fuck he just didn’t care, and as he walked her to the door of her little house he had no idea that he would not leave that house again to live with Merle for almost eight years. 

A lot went down in those eight years, she quit dancing pretty soon after they got serious, she finished her degree and went to work as a nurse. But on that first night neither of them knew what was about to happen to them.

“I never do this,” Mina said as they kicked off their boots in the doorway and she turned on the light. He let go of her momentarily to unlace his boots and he missed her.

“Me either,” Daryl replied, reaching for her hand and pulling her close to him, and she fit in his arms perfectly. This was unlike anything he had ever been a part of, he was young and hadn't been with many girls, but she was as into him as he was to her.

As they made their way through her house losing their shoes and coats along the way they continued kissing wildly; even though it was almost four in the morning they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. That would become a thing with them, they always held hands and always touched each other. Merle used to tease them at family holidays for sitting so close to each other. They had touched for the first time in that back room and all bets were off now and forever.

The moonlight came in the window through the flimsy curtains in her bedroom as they took off their clothes unabashedly. Daryl pulled off his shirt in front of Mina and she did the same; she had a bulky sweatshirt on, but under it was a tank top that left nothing to the imagination. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“God you’re so fucking beautiful...:” Daryl sighed out, he would have pinched himself to make sure this was all real but she was right there, and her hands were going for the buckle of his pants.

Mina pulled him closer by the belt loops, “Come here…” She teased as she walked backward towards the bed and his strong arms wrapped around her. He was taller than she was and Mina let herself be enveloped by him as his lips made their way over her neck to her mouth.

“If this is a pity fuck, I'm ok with it…"He laughed as she pulled him down onto the bed. Daryl was all hands wanting to touch every part of her, and Mina rolled them so that she was sitting on top of him. His hands went to her hips and she welcomed his touch; it was electric between them from the start and it was just getting stronger.

"The only pity in this place is my pity for the sleep neither one of us is gonna get tonight." Mina breathed out as she laid her body over top of his and kissed him dirty. His hands gripped her ass and held her against him, it was such sweet torture. His entire body was throbbing with need for her and Daryl groaned out loud.

"Bring it," Daryl challenged as she sat up again.

She looked down at him, moved her hips against him as she ran her hands over his bare chest. His eyes closed and Daryl groaned low in his throat as he reached for her. Things like this didn’t happen to him, he’d been with a few girls but not like this.

He spent the last six months being miserable over another girl he could barely remember right now, suddenly life was smiling on him.

“You ain ‘t seen nothing yet…I'm bringing it, setting it on a table and opening it up,” She leaned down and kissed him, his hands slid down over her back and under the back of her shirt. Mina loved the way his hands felt on her.

Now Daryl rolled them over so that he was on top and he lifted her shirt to lay sweet kisses on her stomach. Mina's hands went to his hair as he made his way to her perfect breasts. 

He pulled her shirt up slowly like he was unwrapping a Christmas present, taking his time and savoring the experience in case this was the only time. Mina watched his eyes light up when he saw what no one else in the bar got to see.

"Fuck me," He sighed out as he buried his face between her breasts, kissing and licking until she was moaning and arching her back. Daryl hadn’t been with many girls but Merle was constantly talking about eating pussy and making girls cum and at the moment he was grateful for a little knowledge.

After spending a good amount of time worshiping her breasts and feeling her come undone by it Daryl worked his way down her body with his lips and fingers. While he kissed her bellybutton he unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her legs.

Her panties were sky blue and he left them on for now. Mina looked down at him and he smiled at her, a devil's smile and moved her thighs apart. She sighed as he pressed his face against her panties and breathed her in. Daryl had a few tricks up his sleeve, but mostly he went on instinct. 

“Oh goddammit,” She moaned as he ran his nose over the material and gripped her hips, pulling her closer.

“You want this?” Daryl questioned without moving his mouth from her, but letting her feel his lips against her panties and her legs shook.

“Yes!” She cried, “Oh, god yes…”

Still he took his time removing her panties, going slow and kissing down her leg to drag it out, finally when he had them off Daryl tossed them over his shoulder. Mina was breathing hard before he made contact but when he did, and licked her from back to front she cried out more and slammed her hands down on the bed.

“Oh God! Daryl!” He pulled her closer to him, gently gripping her hips and devouring her until she was screaming. 

His cock was throbbing by this time but he ignored it, he was intent on making her lose her mind first and foremost. 

Thanks to Merle's bragging, Daryl knew what he was doing between a woman's legs, alternating his fingers then his lips and tongue all over her pussy just right.

When she came it was loud, breaking the silence of the early morning, but Daryl didn’t stop until she yanked him up to her and fumbled with the button on his jeans in a frenzy. She kissed him wildly as they both worked off his jeans and boxers and she smiled at the sight of him.

“That's for me?” She groaned, he was big and Mina couldn’t wait, she let him know how appreciative she was of him by licking her lips.

“All for you baby,” He answered in between hot, wet kisses, then it was she who was moving down his body and gripping his hips, it really was his birthday!

Again he was blown away by how much she wanted him, and how into him she was. Jenny had not been this way at all, no one before Mina had made him feel this way.

She set her eyes on his cock, and without breaking eye contact she licked him from base to tip and Daryl almost lost his mind. 

"Christ almighty woman, you're gonna kill me dead."

He dug his hand in Mina's hair as she took him in her mouth and hummed as she bobbed her head up and down.

This was a night he'd never forget. 

"Sweetheart come're." He pulled her onto his lap after a few minutes of the bliss of her mouth, "I wanna be inside you."

"I want you inside me…" She whispered and her words hit him right in the balls like lightning. 

Then she was sinking down on his dick, nice and tight,”Ohfuckyes!” Spilled from his lips and then she was fucking him like a wild woman. Her hips slammed into him and all he could do was hold on where he could as she rode him, “That’s it, baby fuck me, fuck me…”

Mina was something else entirely and he was not ready for it, for her. He had never been in bed with someone who fucked this way, who was right there with him. 

“Oh, God you feel so good…” She moaned, as her hair hung down in his face.

“That’s it…” He groaned as she moved against him again and again. This was heaven and if he was dead this was ok.

His eyes closed and he met her thrust for thrust, “Come on Daryl,” Mina demanded as she leaned down and kissed him again, slowing down her movements and sliding her body against his.

“Fuck, not yet…” He groaned, holding her hips, trying to slow her down, but she was fucking his brains out by every definition of the word.

“Give it to me,” She purred in his ear, running her hands over his chest as she lifted herself slowly and pushed down into him.

“I don’t want this to be over too soon, you gotta cum again.” He breathed out while he moved his hips against hers and snaked his hands up over her body, “I wanna feel it.”

“Mmmmmmm, make me cum…” Miina groaned and kissed him again, licking his lips and pushing her tongue into his mouth, sliding it against his nice and slow, filthy, erotic and arousing him even more.

They were both covered in sweat and he couldn’t get enough of her, his hands rested on either side of her ribs and he pulled her down to take her nipple in his mouth.

Daryl could feel her body reacting to him kissing and licking her breasts one then the other, then he reached down between them to stroke her wet slippery flesh until she screamed his name. Daryl rolled over, getting her under him to take it home and grasped her legs under his arms, fucking her hard through her orgasm while her body pulled it from him.

“Oh goddammit, fuck yes! Fuck yes!” He screamed,, shuddering in her arms, “Oh fuck yes!” He yelled and collapsed on top of her.

For a minute they didn’t say anything, just laid there catching their breath, then he rolled off next to her and wrapped her in his arms, “Wow” He gasped out and turned to her with a silly grin on his face.

“Happy Birthday,” She laughed.

“Yeah,” Daryl sighed, reaching for her hand and hoping like mad this was more than just a one time thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think xoxoxox


	4. Deep In  My Heart

Daryl was dreaming of her again in his tent, Merle could hear him saying her name in his sleep as he walked by; that happened even before the turn. The two brothers shared the house they grew up in after Daryl and Mina were divorced, and Merle knew he dreamed about her a lot. 

Sometimes he could hear his brother in the next room calling her name. Now it was in the tent next to him and somehow that was worse.

It made Merle sad for him even though this time he sounded like it was a happy dream. Merle just knew how disappointed Daryl would be when he woke up and realized it wasn't real. He had seen it before in the last year. Daryl and Mina had separated because of his temper and jealousy, and even Merle knew there was no reason for it. 

His brother was a young hot head and always would be, there was a time when that was what she loved most about him. Once she had told Merle that Daryl’s impetuousness was part of what made her fall in love with him; it was also what ruined them. 

//////////////////////////////////////////////

Merle and Daryl had hooked up with a group pretty soon on the way back from the family cabin when they found it burned to the ground. How and why that happened, they didn’t know but it was unsettling. Neither of them spoke of it, even then, they just left. But it left a feeling of unease with them, as if anything could happen.

They were alone on the road for a few days when they came upon the others and there was a blonde there that looked fine as hell to Merle.

So they threw in with a group of yuppies that they found on the side of the road and now were camped at a quarry way up in the hills. The water was clear and fresh and it was a safe place for now. They hunted and kept the group fed and Merle became one of the leaders, Daryl wasn’t interested in it at all. He would leave for days to hunt and he always came back with plenty. Merle knew he was looking for her too.

Life slowed down a little, it wasn’t so urgent to move along now. Some of the people were actually alright to talk to but Daryl was preoccupied most of the time. He hunted, he lived life but the fire went out of his eyes and Merle knew he was dying inside a little every day.

Many nights they sat around the fire talking, Merle and the other guys were talking about going to the CDC or to Fort Bening. They needed to know what was going on in the world and soon they would need more supplies. Daryl gave fuck all, he was along for the ride until it ended and he could be with her again.

It was as if Merle was just dragging him along through life now, before Daryl and Mina still hooked up sometimes and he was happy, now there was darkness over his brother. Merle worried, and tried to include him as much as possible.

Merle had stepped up and between him, Rick and Shane they kept the group of people safe. But Daryl kept himself separate mostly, he didn’t care to be involved with any decisions, or with anyone.

Just that night they had a pretty grim conversation and Merle was truly scared for his brother sometimes. Losing Mina had done something to him and when he couldn’t find her at home or at the hospital where she worked Merle knew that Daryl thought she was dead. 

Maybe he was out looking for her animated body to put her out of her misery, that would be something Daryl would do.

"That's what this is now Merle, what it's always been really when you think about it. It's like God has this magnifying glass and we're all in this big ant farm for him to play with. He's just burning us all alive for fun!"

"You just say that cause you couldn't find Mina…"

"No, we were done way before this shit show went down."

“You were sneaking over to her house every other week, so no, you weren’t done, and she wore her damn wedding ring around her neck on a chain, she wasn’t done with you either.”

“Wasn't that often!” Daryl huffed and Merle smiled, it was good if Daryl was arguing with him, it meant he was still alive, still in the game.

“Maybe she made it and…”

Daryl shook his head, “I think we would have found her somewhere, at her house or her job.”

“Don’t give up, maybe we should go look again.”

“I’m done, I’ve been hoping she’d turn up, and now I just know I’ve been hoping for nothing…”

////////////////////////////////////////////

*******There was nothing in the world  
That I ever wanted more  
Than to feel you deep in my heart****

He rolled over to face her on the blanket in his dream, as the trees rustled above them. It was a warm spring day, the kind that makes you happy to be alive. They had been goofing off, ditching work and just spending the day together. On their backs they held hands and it was so sweet. Daryl never thought he would ever have this.

They had been dating for over a year and they already knew they wanted to be together forever. Daryl leaned in to kiss her and rolled over on top of her, kissing her wildly.

“Marry me?”

Mina met his eyes, “I love you…”

Daryl took her hand and stood up, pulling her up to him, “Let’s go right now.”

“We can’t Daryl, my mother would have a fit...but soon, ok.” She grinned brightly at him with love filled eyes. The way she looked at him sometimes just blew him away, he knew her feelings were true; no one had ever loved him that way before, it was addicting.

He hugged her and lifted her off the ground, spinning her around on a spring day that was made just for them. 

////////////////////////////////////////

Mina had caught a ride back from Atlanta the day it all went to shit which is why Daryl couldn’t find her at home or at work. She had gone to the doctor’s out of town specifically so he wouldn’t know about it, she couldn’t take a chance that someone in their small town would see her there. 

She knew that the gossip mill loved her. She was a stripper working her way through nursing school who married the town bad boy. Her life was fodder for the masses it seemed sometimes. It was better to go out of town for this to prevent someone from telling Daryl before she had a chance to think.

Her friend Maggie Greene from work went with her and it was better that way. Maggie was new to Montgomery Memorial and they had become fast friends, she gave good advice and was wise way beyond her years. Maggie worked in the ICU with Mina at the hospital, but they were off and they made a day out of it. They had a nice lunch in the city and then went to her appointment.

She was torn about what to do, and she wasn’t anxious to tell Daryl about it either, this was her choice not his. The timing was unreal, they had talked about this when they were married, tried for it and here it was after the divorce was final. 

Mina laughed at the irony of it; she knew what his choice would be, if he had one, which he didn’t. As it turned out, she didn’t end up getting a choice either because the world ended.

When she and Maggie broke down on the side of the road things devolved quickly. This little flu or whatever it was that was going around was either grossly exaggerated or grossly underrated. All of the sudden, six hours after they had left it was all unraveling as if someone threw a switch and made the world go into kaos.

They barely made it as far as they did, people were going crazy in the city, it would be in their town before too long too.

Luckily Maggie was able to call her father and he came and got them before things got too out of control. The girls were told not to come into work the next day via text message and then the phones went dead. On the other side of town Daryl was frantically trying to call her; he didn’t know her new friend Maggie and had no idea where to look for her.

She had been asleep early the night before and had missed his call, she knew why he was calling, he had left a drunk message on her voicemail. “...Mina? Can I come over? I miss you baby. I miss you so goddamn much…Please baby, pick up...I love you, it’s always been you, always gonna be you, pick up baby...please...”

Mina intended to call him back that evening when he was sober, hopefully. She wasn’t ready to tell him the news yet, but soon. Within twelve hours everything had changed and she never got to call him.

It was decided that Mina would stay with the Greene’s until it all blew over. Maggie’s father had refused to let her go out into the world alone. It was too dangerous. She texted Daryl and Merle too, but nothing ever went through. The world was over in the blink of an eye and she and Daryl were ten miles apart the entire time and didn’t even know it.


	5. The Oak Tree and the Cypress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The timeline is slightly off so that I can accomplish what I need to. Please bear with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.

No one saw it coming and that just made it worse. Losing people was becoming a way of life but as Merle comforted Andrea when she lost her sister he thanked God he still had Daryl. The woods around the quarry were no longer safe, it was the elephant in the room that no one wanted to talk about.

Andrea had said more than once that if it wasn’t for Merle she might have just shot herself right after she put Amy down. Jim had been bitten and the reality was they needed to make a decision fast. The CDC might have a way to help him even though he was bit.

So they buried their dead and tried to get on with their lives.

“We got to move on…” Shane said that night as they all sat by the fire. Merle was next to Andrea on a log they had pulled up and across from them were Carol and Sophia. Carol and Andrea had both lost someone in this attack, Andrea looked wearily over at Carol, knowing the other woman was grieving in her own way.

Ed was a dick, and now he was dead.

Carol's husband had been a nightmare and more than once Ed had tangled with Merle and Daryl. Daryl was itching for a fight with someone all the time it seemed, solving problems with his fists was a way of life; and Ed fit the bill. The man didn’t follow rules and kept his wife and child isolated, not even allowing Sophia to play with Carl, Rick and Lori’s kid. 

That was all changed now, next to Sophia sat Carl and the child was smiling, it was good to see children being children. Even under the worst circumstances, children still needed to have some fun. Now that Ed was gone Carol let Sophia play and that was a good thing to see.

“CDC?” Merle asked and Rick agreed.

“Daryl? What do you think? CDC or Ft. Bening?” Shane asked attempting to include Daryl and he just shrugged his shoulders and got up to go to his tent. He couldn’t wait to close his eyes, maybe he’d dream about her.

“Going to bed, you all decide, it’s what you all wanna do anyway,” He stated and turned to leave with one last word, " My two cents don't matter a damn."

“You’re brother is a real dick, Merle.” Rick countered as they watched him walk away.

“Just ignore him, he’ll go along with whatever I want, that’s the way it’s always been. Don’t worry about that.” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Rick about Daryl and Mina. Maybe then they would all understand his attitude, but it wasn’t his story to tell and Daryl would be mad if these people knew. They were not his friends and Daryl was a private person.

"Man what's his issue?" Shane asked and Merle just shook his head. 

His brother felt no kinship with them, even as they accepted Merle as an important part of the group. Merle knew that was the reason for his surly affect, Daryl was slowly dying of a broken heart and there was nothing Merle could do to help him.

As Daryl lay in his tent staring up at the canvas he thought about her, and the happiest day of his life. There was no meaning anymore and he felt as dead inside as the freaks that were up walking around. 

He had been out looking for her, at their old house, where so many memories, good and bad lurked around every corner. But he did it, for her; the thought of her walking around like one of them, mindless and disgusting was something he could not bear. He went to the hospital she worked at, and their favorite dinner where they connected on his birthday so long ago; she wasn't there either. When he could he planned to keep looking, a bolt through her head might just kill him, but he’d die knowing he’d done right by her.

Jim got the easy way out, he was going to die and part of Daryl figured a bite from one of the dead ones wasn’t such a bad idea.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was drizzling and sunny out on the day they got married a few months after he asked her and it was perfect. Merle was there and Daryl’s mother, all of Mina’s family. She wore a simple white dress that she bought off the rack and he wore a suit he borrowed from Merle. 

In her hands she held a bouquet of lilies, on her face was a smile a mile wide. Neither one of them had two nickels to rub together but they were so damn happy. She would be done with school in a year, and he and Merle were taking over the old man’s garage since he took off. 

Life was good and it seemed like a dream come true.

When you’re young like that it’s easy to live on dreams and sometimes it even works, for them it worked for a while, a good long while. It was like they were made just for each other and had each been waiting for the other to feel complete. As they had gotten to know each other they found that they had similar personalities and spent most of their time together laughing.

“We will now have a reading from Kahil Gibran, by the brother of the groom.” The officiant announced as Daryl took her hand as Merle read from the book he held. Mina had asked him to read this and he couldn’t say no to her, even though it wasn’t his thing at all. She had saved his brother. Daryl walked among the living again because of her, Merle would never deny her a thing for what she had done.

“Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.  
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.  
And stand together yet not too near together:  
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,  
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” 

Merle read from the text, every once in a while looking up at them and their smiling faces. This was a good day, despite the light rain. 

“You may kiss the bride.” The officiant announced and Daryl pulled her close to him and kissed his wife for the first time.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Time went by slowly on the Green farm and Mina was grateful for that. She pitched in with the chores and got a crash course in farm life, and there was always something to do, no time to think. That was a good thing. Mina didn’t want to think about what it was going to be like to be a single mother at the end of the world.

Some things were too overwhelming for even the strongest of people. She was content to learn how to feed chickens, milk cows and gather eggs. They were well taken care of on the Greene farm and everyone made sure she was eating and drinking milk every day.

From her best estimation she had been three months pregnant when it all went down and that was two months ago. At first she didn’t think it was possible, she and Daryl always used condoms and her period was so irregular, it had never occurred to her before then.

Now every morning she sat on the porch and drank her tea as the sun came up, wondering where in the world he was. She had talked Maggie into driving her to Daryl and Merle’s a few weeks before but the place was abandoned. They were at the hunting cabin she supposed, she hoped they were alright.

She couldn’t help but wonder, if he was alive was he missing her the way she was missing him, was he trying to find her? It had been so up in the air with them, divorced but still seeing each other. She shook her head, was nothing ever going to be normal with them, meeting because of a lap dance, not getting along sometimes and fighting except in bed.

She and Daryl had their differences and had decided not to be together, but it wasn’t really working out that way. Now she would never know what could have been. He was just gone, disappeared.

Somehow, though, she always saw herself with him at the end of the day, she had never looked at another man after they met and she never would. 

In four months she was having their baby, it was surreal that he wasn’t there with her, he would have been so happy. He was supposed to be here with her, she didn’t want to do this alone, but she had no choice.

Soon Beth joined her on the porch, they were the two early risers in the house. Often they would both be awake long before anyone else in the house. They talked a lot, Beth was different from Maggie, quiet.

“How are you feeling?” Beth asked, just like she asked every day. Beth was excited that there would be a baby in the house, they had already started to go on runs for baby clothes and diapers.

“We’re doing fine,” Mina answered absentmindedly rubbing the bump of her baby, she had felt it move for the first time a few days before. It was real, there really was a baby growing inside of her; one that would grow up without a father.

“I've been thinking, maybe your Daryl went looking for you at the hospital and someone told him you and Maggie were friends. He would have to find out where we lived, like from a library or something, there’s no computers anymore, no phones; maybe he is trying to get to you, but it’s taking a long time. Maybe he doesn’t have a car for some reason and he’s walking.”

“That’s a romantic notion Beth, you’re sweet …” Mina mused as she played with the plain gold band on her finger that meant so much more to her now. She had taken it off the chain weeks ago and put it back on, if her hands swelled later in the pregnancy she wanted it on her finger, "Thank you for that."

“I believe in the power of love and of family, that kind of power can move mountains.”

////////////////////////////

Miles away at the CDC Daryl had settled in for a long night and a guaranteed hangover the next day. He was drunk that night even before dinner and he didn’t give a fuck. All these months with these losers was grating on him and she was gone for sure. They had driven by the hospital on the way to the CDC and there was no one there but the dead ones. 

Her house, their house once upon a time, which was visible from the highway was all overgrown; clearly she didn't make it, facts were just the facts. Merle had looked over at him as they drove past both buildings that he had hoped for a glimpse of her and he could feel Daryl’s soul deflate.

Jim had asked to be left on the side of the road and that was a hard thing for all of them, but the ride was causing him agony and that was how he wanted to go, on his own terms; every man should have that choice.

Merle never even said a word when Daryl started drinking as soon as Jenner brought out the booze. He had a lot of sorrows to drown that night, even Merle had trouble still hoping Mina had survived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. :)


	6. Drunk Dreams and Memories

Daryl laid on the couch in the office he took for the night after listening to that douche Jenner go on and on about nothing until he couldn’t take it anymore. He slung the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels he pilfered from Jenner's stash to the opposite end of the couch to keep it handy and kicked off his boots. 

He wasn’t nearly as drunk as he wanted to be, alcohol would jump start his mind and bring her back to him if he was lucky. Daryl loved when the images were clear. The alcohol fueled his memory every time. Laying there he remembered one of the best nights of their early days when they were first married. 

They were in their kitchen cooking dinner, talking about everything and nothing, goofing around and then seriously discussing her nursing state board exam and starting a family one day.

Daryl huffed as he rolled over on the couch, reached for the bottle and took a long pull on it; what a pipe dream all that had been. In his stupor he thought more and more about that night, the details were so clear, even as his addled mind was so foggy about everything else.

“Don’t poke me with that.” Mina had laughed as she scooted away from the skewer he was loading with meat and vegetables for their dinner that night.

“Hmmm... something you never say,” He laughed with a grin and she smacked him with a dishtowel. He had taken for granted those good times, and he longed for just a few of them back again.

They had music playing on the radio that particular night and an old Bad Company song came on. Startling her as she was pouring some wine, he grabbed her and spun her around the kitchen, then danced slowly with her.

“I’m ready for love…” He crooned into her ear as they moved together and he pressed against her, swaying his hips with hers; dinner was now forgotten about. Mina giggled as he picked her up, “Oh baby, I’m ready for love.”

No longer that shy boy he was before they met, Daryl set her on the counter to get closer, the feel of her body against his as they danced had made him crazy for more.

Mina pulled him to her as if she couldn’t wait to get her hands on him. It had always been so hot when she did that, she always acted like he was the greatest thing in the world. He never doubted her love or how much she was into him.

While she wrapped her legs around his waist, Daryl growled, Mina pulled him closer between her legs and it felt unbelievable to him. Daryl was no stranger to how a woman felt, but they had not been this woman, his wife.

They stayed like that for a while, kissing and holding each other, their hearts beating out of control, their breathing ragged; savoring the moment as if one day they would only have memories.

“Alright fuck dinner.” He announced, reaching over to turn off the stove. “I got what I want right here.”

Daryl remembered it was a warm day and how he had watched as a bead of sweat rolled down her neck to her chest, so slowly and he licked his lips. Mina had an amazing body and beautiful skin and he couldn’t get enough of her.

He stared into her eyes as another bead of sweat rolled down her neck about to pounce and finally he chased it with his lips and tongue.

“Mmmmm.” Mina moaned at the feeling of his lips on her skin. He was the one, and she never believed in any of that before him.

“Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.” He crooned into her ear and she obeyed him. Daryl brought his lips to hers and kissed her thoroughly as Mina relaxed her legs from his waist and leaned back on her hands. She let her legs dangle over the counter and allowed him to move her knees apart. 

Daryl ran his hands over her thighs, then his lips were on her again, hungry and demanding.

“That’s a good girl.” He kissed down her neck. “You’re my good girl right?”

“Keep running your mouth and I’ll be any girl you want me to be…” He knew she liked the trash talk and he intended to give the lady what she wanted. Daryl held her in place by her thighs and brought his lips to her ear. 

“Remember...you asked for it.” He growled into her ear.

His hands traveled up her thighs further and she caught her breath in anticipation. She loved his hands and his mouth. Mina moaned out loud as he tasted her skin, not caring how loud she was.

“Suck it.” He demanded, pushing his finger into her mouth as his mouth went to her neck again and sucked hard. She moaned and the vibration against his finger shot right to his dick. “Don’t stop till I say or I’ll spank your ass.”

Of course Mina stopped and looked up at him through her lashes with a devil’s grin on her face. The look on her face made his dick ache but ignoring it, Daryl nodded his head once, pulled his finger out of her mouth and brought his hand down on her ass swiftly. She moaned, letting her head fall back against the cabinet above and he rubbed the spot, soothing it and whispering to her.

“More.” She breathed out, her chest was heaving and her head was moving side to side. “Please.”

“Maybe later.” He teased as he licked the inside of her ear. “If you can be good, can you?”

As he spoke, Daryl took his hand and brought it over her breast through her shirt, rubbing his palm over her until she was weak. Mina’s head was banging softly against the cabinet with every move he made on her body and she was totally lost in it already.

His other hand was against her thigh holding her in place on the counter, but she was squirming.

“Not yet baby.” He soothed, softly. ‘Not yet.”

Mina was trying to get some friction and relief because she was burning up with desire and the temperature in their small kitchen was rising steadily, with no hope for respite now.

“Stop squirming.” He pushed his hand into her thigh slightly harder and then smacked her ass with the other hand. As he always did, he rubbed the spot immediately after and Mina was moaning with her eyes rolled back into her head. ‘I said not yet.”

“Oh my God Daryl.” Then he dipped his head down and sucked on her nipple through her shirt and the thin bra she wore, “Please…”

He didn’t stop this time, and with his other hand, he reached up to her shorts and pushed them aside. She was so wet and he knew he was in danger of completely losing it. He was so hard but he wasn’t stopping until she was screaming.

“Oh Mina, that’s so nice.” He moaned against her breast and sucked again. His fingers found their way into her shorts and Daryl slid them against her wetness as his lips plundered her mouth.

Not taking his eyes from hers he pulled her to the edge of the counter slow as molasses in the snow and hooked his fingers under the waistband of her shorts, then pulled her shorts down and settled his hands on her inner thighs. As he brought her knees apart, he knelt down and rubbed the scruff of his beard along her thigh as he traveled towards his goal.

Mina dug her hands into his hair and tugged. “...Daryl.”

And then he was there, running his tongue over her slow and deliberate, going everywhere except where she wanted him to. She let out a sigh of frustration and pushed herself against his face. He grinned against her and pulled her legs apart further.

“Please Daryl.” She moaned and he loved that sound, there was nothing better in the world.

Finally, she felt his fingers over her and inside her as his tongue lapped at her inner lips until he found what he wanted. His girl would cum fast and hard if he licked her in just the right way.

Daryl moved his finger inside of her and brought his mouth up alternating rolling his tongue against the bundle of nerves that was about to explode. After a minute he felt her legs starting to shake, a sure sign that she was going to break, and he pushed another finger inside her.

“Please.” She wiggled against him, still chasing the sweet relief she needed. “Please... don’t stop.”

He didn’t, he plundered her pussy with deep tongue kisses as if it was her mouth, devouring her in kind and was rewarded with her screams of exquisite pleasure as her orgasm overtook her.

“Oh my God, oh my God. Daryl, OH My God. Yes, yes, yes.” Mina threw her head back, closed her eyes and gave herself over to it completely, feeling her body vibrate with it; it came in waves, over her scalp, down her spine and through her whole body and she shook, trembled, screamed.

Then she was pulling him up against her and reaching for his pants buckle in a frenzy, “Hurry, hurry!…Fuck me, Daryl, I need it.” She breathed out, pulling at his pants. “Now, give it to me.”

“I’m gonna sweetheart, I’m gonna.” He breathed out, pulling his pants and boxers down and freeing his throbbing cock. “I’m gonna fuck you so good.”  
Then he was inside her and this time it was he that moaned louder than she. 

"Oh jesus…" He groaned. 

He knew he wasn’t going to last long but he slammed into her the way she liked it, hard and fast and kissed her with the fever that was burning them both up.   
Gripping her tight he pulled her off the counter, still inside her and laid her down on the floor as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Hang on baby.” He breathed out still fucking her into oblivion.

“Yes, yes, yes.” She cried out, “Give it to me, oh Daryl, yes.” She could feel her body reacting again as he slammed into her harder and harder with every minute that passed.

Daryl moved his hips against hers and she met him thrust for thrust. It didn’t matter that they were on the floor, it never mattered.

“Oh that’s right baby, take it. Take it all…” He could feel her pussy gripping his cock as she came again.

“Cum in me Daryl, Oh God, please baby please, give it to me.” She breathed into his ear and that pushed him right over the edge. He came with a roar and his body shook with tremors for what seemed like forever. It all went white behind his eyes and he screamed as it went on and on.

Daryl held her tight after they lay spent on the floor together and swore they would always be this way. They were strong together, stronger than they were apart and when one of them needed to be carried, the other did that.

“I love you, Mina, I love you so much.” He whispered in the fading sunlight of the kitchen.

“I love you, forever.” She replied. “For always, no matter what.”

////////

Daryl woke up the next day in a foul mood with a hangover and the day just got better from there. He had just gotten some hair of the dog and finished the bottle when all hell broke loose; they barely escaped from the CDC before it was blown to smithereens by Jenner and Daryl was just done with all of this shit.


	7. So Close, So Far

Mina had started a project almost as soon as she had gotten to the Greene’s and realized memories were coming back in waves because of it. Even ones that were not pleasant at the time were comforting. They loved and fought hard. That was for sure; it had been real between them, flawed but real. Some people never had the chance to know what that felt like. She had him for almost nine years and she was grateful for that. 

///////////

“God dammit Daryl you can't crack every guy who looks at me!” Mina hollered as she got ice for the shiner that was coming from the punch he took in the fight. She slammed the freezer door a little too hard and Daryl knew she was pissed off.

Mina hated this part of him. There was so much that she loved about him but this white hot anger was not one of those things. He could go from zero to a hundred in two second with the right (wrong) stimulus.

They had been out at a bar for their seventh wedding anniversary with Merle and some girl Sandy he was dating. The night started out great, with a nice dinner and it had ended with him and Merle fighting some guy that Daryl zeroed in on for touching Mina.

“Why not, he had it coming…” He yelled back trying to hold his temper, it wasn’t her fault and he knew that. He didn't mean to yell at her, the last thing he wanted was to fight with her on their anniversary, the night was still young and he had a better idea of how to blow off some steam.

“There’s always going to be some guy who looks, you can’t…” But Daryl cut her off as she handed him the ice.

“That guy touched you, he didn’t just look at you!” Daryl growled as if it justified everything, she knew that in his mind it did. Mina was weary of it.

"You had no problem when I was still dancing…" That was true, he sometimes came to watch and never got angry at all.

"That’s because it was your job, and it was hot, and no one touched you! That douche purposely bumped into you so he could touch your hips like a fucking creep…" He answered as he slipped the ice over his eye, the other guy got it much worse, “Don’t even tell me you know different!”

"Oh for fucks sake Daryl, I can't with the fights, I'm tired of you solving everything with your fists."

This was an old fight of theirs but suddenly something dawned on him. Did this make her afraid of him?

"Hey," He looked up at her and spoke softly, "You know I'd never touch you right ?"

"I know," She huffed, "That's not what I'm talking about. You never said shit when I was dancing. Not once. "

"Everybody knew you were with me."

"I'm still with you. Why do you do this? I'm not interested in anyone else."

"I just saw red, his hands on you just tripped a switch, can’t help it."

“Daryl,” She sat down opposite him at the table and helped him hold the ice to his face, “As hot and bad ass as you look with a black eye, you need to stop…”

“You love it,” He laughed, “I promise to try, but this town is full of assholes and tourists that cant keep their hands to themselves…”

“We can’t have kids if you’re going to keep fighting, I won’t do it.” She replied calmly, “You of all people should understand…”

“I do,” He pulled his chair over to her and got close, “I do know, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, "Going hunting with Merle tomorrow, you wanna come?"

"Sure…" She answered, and he smiled. Their fights never lasted very long. 

Daryl had been so sincere and so hell bent on change, this was something he wanted to do for her but it did happen again and again, and again.

Thinking about it now, Mina wished she had hugged him tighter all of those times, he had tried and it should have been enough. She had separated them, it had been her that did that and now she was alone at the end of the world because of it.

///////////////////////////////////////////

The mix and match caravan, of cars, trucks and a camper got sidelined on the side of the road on the way back from the CDC and halfway to Ft. Bening. When the herd came through it was terrifying, they had never seen so many of them at one time. A few stragglers here and there were fine, even the ones that made it to the quarry were nothing compared to this.

There was nothing they could do but hide, even Merle hid in the camper with Andrea to keep her safe. Usually the men would be out there staking them in the head, but there were just too many of them.

They had come upon them suddenly and there had been no time to react. The fear radiated off of all of them as they struggled to keep calm and out of sight.

The kids had been hiding under a car, and Daryl was next to them under another car, he did his best to help them stay calm as the animated bodies walked past them, shuffling and growling, hungry.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Mina started keeping a journal and she wrote in it every day since she had gotten to the Green’s; it was a story really about how she and Daryl had met and about their life together. She wanted this child to know who his or her father was, and how much he would have wanted to be there. This was one of the ways she planned to honor him, because through no fault of his own and just bad luck he couldn’t be there.

He was the love of her life and this baby would know how much it’s parents loved each other and how much they wanted him or her. Daryl would have been over the moon about being a father, they had talked about it often.

She began at the beginning, leaving no detail out, even the part about sunbathing in her backyard and laughing with her friends at school about Daryl and Charlie Pace climbing the tree in Charlie’s yard to spy on her.

It seemed so long ago now, she had forgotten all about it until Daryl reminded her about it when they had been together a while. It was a good idea to write it all down, she intended to bring Daryl back to life with her words for their child.

Her words and memories were all they would have and she wanted to be exact in the details, for him. They had been an imperfect couple but they had really loved each other, fiercely.

She had also decided that after the baby was born they would both take Daryl’s last name. He had been so hurt when she went back to her maiden name, this was something she could do to make that right.

Mina sat out on the porch every evening and wrote in the journal, this night was no different and she was oblivious to the drama that was going on just down the road. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When the herd was gone so was one of the children, Carol’s daughter Sophia had gotten spooked and ran into the woods. It seemed like she was there one second and the next just gone. Rick, Carl and Shane went one way and Daryl, Glenn and Merle went the other. They had to find her before nightfall. The women, T- Dog and Dale patrolled the area closest to the road in case she circled back around.

This situation was fucked.

“It’s like I said Merle, God and his fucking ant farm, you tell me what kind of God would separate a little girl from her mother at a time like this, and all this other shit, it isn’t right!”

“Will you relax, we can track her and you know it…”

“We’ll find her,” Glenn assured, ”How far could a little kid get in the woods.”

Merle chuckled, “You wanna field that answer brother?”

“What?” Glenn asked, “What’d I say?”

“Daryl and I used to run from the old man on the reg, and we were pretty fast.”

“Yeah, it can be done,” Daryl agreed, he wasn't as ornery today because he had something to focus on, and as sad as Merle was for the little girl it was good to see Daryl somewhat engaged in the world around him.

“I’m originally from Chicago, no woods there unfortunately…” Glenn answered.

“This new world fucking sucks,” Daryl countered as he took aim at one of the dead ones and shot it through the eye, “Maybe there is no god anymore.” He continued as he yanked his bolt out of the motionless dead thing.

“Maybe so, little brother, all the more reason to get moving and find that little girl.”

“It’ll be getting dark soon,” Glen mused as they continued to walk through the deep brush. The thought of a child alone in the woods now as it was getting dark was unsettling. He didn’t even like being out here, Sophia must be terrified.

“Daryl once got lost in the woods for nine days, I was in juvie and the old man didn’t even notice…” Merle began, “What were you like eleven?

“Mhm,” Daryl replied, “He didn’t tell Mom either, she was at Aunt Josephine's for the week,” Daryl added.

“What did you do?” Glenn asked.

“Ate berries, leaves, got poison ivy on my ass…” Daryl explained.

Merle snickered, “Dumb ass.”

“Yeah, fuck you too Merle,” He continued, “Then I came home and made a baloney sandwich.”

“Jesus,” Glenn sighed, these two had it rough as kids he thought for a moment, but only a moment.

Over the hill a shot rang out and the three of them turned wondering what the fuck had happened now.

"For fucks sake, now what?" Merle said to himself as they continued to look for Sophia. Whatever was going down on the other side of the woods would have to go down without them, they were the only trackers in the group and this was their mission.


	8. A Lucky Break

“The plaintiff's request to return to her maiden name of Halloran is so ordered.” The judge smacked his gavel . It was done and she looked over at him knowing she shouldn’t have. This hurt her too, and he didn’t understand that. Merle had his hand on Daryl’s shoulder and he was seething it radiated off of him onto Merle hand.

“Leave it be brother, goodbyes suck.” Merle cautioned, but Daryl followed her out into the hallway. Mina knew he was behind her, but she kept walking; writing Dixon every time she signed her name broke her heart; she had to do this. 

It was the hardest thing she had ever done and tears threatened to flow down her cheeks, she couldn’t turn around and let him see. He’d want to comfort her and they couldn’t be that for each other anymore.

“You don’t even want my name anymore!” He yelled down the hall but she kept walking until she was out the door and gone. Merle came up behind Daryl and eased him out of the crowd that had gathered. Everywhere they went the Dixon’s always made a scene, but Merle wouldn’t have it any other way.

"Quit staring fuck face,” He said to a random man and woman, “Nothing to see here, get the fuck out of the way.”

He led Daryl out and wondered what to do now. Daryl had met Mina because Merle wanted him to get over a woman, but Merle doubted he’d get over her. There was no easy fix for this.

Mina was a block away already and still Daryl yelled after her, “This isn’t over Mina, I ain’t done with you!”

////////////////////////////////

Three weeks later Daryl and Merle’s mother died suddenly and Merle called her just to give courtesy. Mina had loved their mother, Paulina and likewise their mother treated her like the daughter she never had. It was a kindness to let her know, whatever her differences with his brother Mina was still his sister and always would be.

She left work immediately and went to Daryl. There hadn’t even been a question in her mind, of course she had to be with him. She got up from the nurse’s station, asked the charge to take emergency PTO and then she was hauling ass out of the parking lot to get to him. She didn’t even stop home to change out of her scrubs.

When Mina got there he was sitting in the backyard staring at the pond that was there. She could tell by the way his shoulders hung that he was broken.

“Hey,” She said softly and he looked up at her, the look on his face told her all she needed to know, this was the last straw for him, there was nothing left for him to lose. 

“Hey,” She sat down next to him and allowed him to put his arm around her, “She loved you so much Mina and so do I.”

“I love you too,” She blurted out before she could stop herself, “ I don’t know how to stop…”

///////////////////////////

Rick and Shane found the farmhouse just like the man with the gun had directed them, there was a fence on the perimeter and it looked like a safe place. Maybe safer than anyplace they had been so far, there was no herd around, nothing but fields. 

His shirt was soaked with his son's blood and he was surprised a line of those dead things wasn’t following him. The house came into sight like a beacon of hope, a lighthouse in the darkness of a vast and stormy sea. They ran faster, he held his child to him and willed him to live.

How the hell had such a random act happened, how could a lone hunter in the woods make such an error?

Exhausted he began to yell for help and Shane ran ahead and hollered as loud as he could, hoping that the man had been right and there were medical people at the house. They were both in shock over what had happened. They made a racket that would have raised the dead if they weren’t already raised lately.

Four people spilled out onto the porch when they heard the noise, an older man, a young blonde girl and a dark haired girl. Shane’s face broke into a grin, Carl was going to live, he just knew it, he willed it to be so.

The family saw immediately that the child was injured and bleeding, the girl with the short dark hair turned and yelled back into the house.

“MINA!”

////////////////////////

Mina remembered that they buried Daryl and Merle's mother on a sunny day. She and Daryl found themselves alone cleaning up the kitchen after what Merle called “The Bereavement Buffet.”

At the time she felt like Daryl had told Merle to get lost because he wasted no time backing her up against the stove. 

Everything moved in slow motion to her and it felt like time was short and action was needed, death and life were tangled up together somehow. 

So many thoughts went through her head as he pushed his lips into hers so gently, and then with more hunger. He moaned against her mouth and she opened up to him completely. There was no way she would push him away now.

Mina’s hands went up into his hair and he pulled her against him; he couldn’t believe she was in his arms again, he really thought he’d never see her again.  
“I missed you so much.” She whispered as her hands ran through his hair and over his back, savoring the feel of his hard body.

He hugged her close again, breathing her in, whispering to her that he missed her too. 

“I’m sorry baby, I’m so fucking sorry…”

“I’m sorry too, I’m so, so sorry, Daryl…”

Lately they had been at the point where they were each indifferent to the other and everything was a fight, now it was like nothing else mattered but them, this moment.

He kissed her again deeper, like he had been dreaming of for what seemed like forever now. His tongue danced across her lips and she yielded completely to him with a sigh.

“I love you, I know you love me.” He breathed out and she nodded, now tears were falling down her face. “I know you do.”

Bringing his hands over her cheeks he noticed she was crying and pushed her tears away with his thumbs, comforting her even though she had come to comfort him.  
“It’s okay baby, it’s going to be ok. I promise.” He said and he kissed her again because he just couldn’t get enough of her. “We’re gonna figure this out.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Jesus you’re pregnant in all this bullshit?” Shane said to Mina later after they had gotten Carl inside the house and finally, after hours of touch and go he was stabilized. Rick was at his bedside and Maggie was attending to him so Mina could take a break and drink some water.

The two nurses and Herschel had worked all day to save the boy, it involved a jury rigged transfusion of blood from Rick and some battlefield surgery, but the boy would live.

Mina and Shane were sitting out on the porch as the sun was going down over the vast fields before them. It was a calm setting, beautiful really even though it had been such a hard, and long day.

“Just great timing as usual for me.” She laughed, “You have no idea how typical this is for my life.”

“Yeah, I get it.” His life wasn't much better, he was the poster boy for bad timing and even worse luck. He’d almost had what he wanted but Rick showed up back from the dead and now he was banished from Lori’s bed, “Tough break though…”

“It’s fine, I’m fine…”

They sat in silence for a while, there was so much to think about, this new world was not like anything anyone had ever encountered before. Who would have thought that at the crack of dawn two men and a bleeding child would show up looking for help.

“An apocalypse pregnancy, what’s that feel like?”

“Don’t know, this is my first time…” 

“Well congrats, new life is always something to celebrate, especially in these times.”

“Thank you,” She answered with a smile.

“Good thing for us we found two nurses at the end of the world…”

“He’s going to be fine…”

“Your father has a great place here.”

“Oh, I’m not ...I got separated from... my family, Herschel took me in.” She couldn't say husband, she couldn't say dead. Even though in her heart she knew it was likely. 

“I’m sorry you lost your people, I lost someone too recently. I get it.” 

He wasn’t all that sorry, she was hot, some women just glowed when they were pregnant; Mina was one of them. Shane had no qualms about macking on this girl. Losing her family was a tragedy, but in this new world you had to make the most of the hand you had been dealt.

If they stayed here for any length of time Shane intended to do just that,she would come with baggage, but who didn’t and he loved kids; but first to find out her name.

“Soon I won’t be, and Herschel and his family have made me one of theirs.” She smiled again, “This baby has no idea how loved it is.”

“That’s all babies need most of the time.” Then he turned and smiled at her, offering his hand to shake, “I’m Shane by the way.”

“Hey, Shane, I’m Mina.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise.” She answered, aware that he was turning on the charm, she laughed to herself, in the old world Daryl would have knocked him out cold by now. Funny how now she’d give anything to have him and his temper there right now.


	9. The Sweetest Thirst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer and closer, but in the meantime here's some smut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate all the kind words from people here. It means the world to a writer knowing people are enjoying their work and it's not easy to put yourself out there. I read other people's stories and I always comment because I know how important it is. So thank you xoxoxoxxox Krissy

Once she finally got into bed that night she dreamed of the night of his mother's funeral, he had been so wired and so aggressive and she had been swept away. 

There were no regrets, even thinking about it after the fact, they couldn't be apart. Now they were, but she was glad that she still had her dreams, her happy place.

When they got to his room and shut the door Daryl continued kissing her, backing her up closer to the bed. Her hands were already undoing the buttons on his shirt and his hands were snaking up the back of her sweater. His skin felt so good under her fingers and kissing him was like coming home.

To Mina it seemed like such a long time to go without a drop of love, when in reality it had only been a few weeks. It was like being in a desert and going without water and being so thirsty for it. Then when you finally got it you wanted to drink it as fast as you could.

“I know we got a lot of things to work out, but this ain't one of them.” Daryl laughed un-tucking his shirt and unbuckling his pants.

Mina watched him intently, there was something about when he unbuckled his pants that made her heart do somersaults in her chest every time. The sound of it, even after years together it was still a thrill.

“We ain't ever had any problems doing this.” He continued coming towards her with a wide grin on his face, with his shirt wide open and pants unbuckled.  
She actually licked her lips, he was right about that, even when they were fighting they still couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

Mina might have been mad at him sometimes, and often, but that never carried over into the bedroom, and it wasn’t about makeup sex either; that was a whole other thing entirely.

She could be royally pissed off at him, and still, she would fuck him because she really liked fucking him; it never made sense to punish herself because she was mad at him.

Make up sex was out of this world and after a good fight many times they ended up just like this now. Deep in her heart she wanted them to work it out, he was the sweetest thing in her life.

Slowly, they were making their way towards the bed, arms and lips all over each other, taking off shoes and she was helping him as he was unzipping his pants, while he was trying to unbutton her pants at the same time. They were a tangle of arms and clothes as they hit the bed, Mina fell backward and Daryl climbed over her with one hand on either side of her.

He looked down at her one more time for consent and she nodded. Then he was on her and his lips and hands were everywhere. It was like they couldn’t get enough of each other and were afraid the other was going to disappear, or be a figment of their imagination.

Then she was reaching for him with desperate and frantic hands until he was right there. She pulled his face to hers and placed eager kisses on his lips, rocking herself against him.

“Do it.” She breathed out. “Now.”

She spread her legs apart and pulled him down on top of her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“Mina…I.” She wouldn’t wait for another second, she moved against him and pulled him inside her. “Fuuccckkk, Oh Christ, fuck YES!”

Mina gasped out a breath and neither of them moved, the sweat from both of their bodies mixed and they glided against each other slowly.

“This is too good to rush…” Daryl teased, then was serious for a beat, “Fuck I missed …”

“Move Daryl,” Mina demanded and cut off whatever he was about to say.

He moved against her achingly slow. “You want more?” She nodded. “Tell me.”

“More.” He pulled out almost all the way then slammed back into her. Mina’s arms wound under his and she pulled him by his shoulders. “More.” She met his eyes. “Harder.”

“Fuck!” He didn’t look away.

“Harder!”

“God damn it Mina!”

“More!”

Daryl kissed her again, holding her tight as both their hips slammed against each other. All he could hear was her breathing and her voice telling him to go harder and harder until it overtook his mind first and then his body.

He reached down between them to stroke her before he let himself go completely. He had to feel it, he had to feel her body let go while he was inside her.  
“Come on sweetheart, cum on me, cum all over me...” He pleaded. “Come on.”

Then he felt it and it was so sweet; he heard it as she screamed out his name and he followed her over the cliff and into oblivion.

////////////////////////////////////////////////

The girl on the horse came out of nowhere and almost ran them all down in the woods. Daryl Merle, Andrea, Lori and Glenn all almost jumped out of their skin when she came riding up. It had been a long night and they had just started looking for Sophia again.

Rick, Shane and Carl were missing now, and being scared half to death in the woods by a stranger just added to the nonsense of this new world.

“Lori Grimes?” The girl stopped and held her hand out, “Rick sent me, I need you to come with me right now!”

“You can't get on that horse!” Daryl bellowed, "You can't just leave. "

“Carl’s been hurt,” The girl continued and that was all Lori needed to hear, the girl reached down and pulled her up and onto the horse behind her. They were gone in a flash, leaving the rest of the group dumb founded.

“What the fuck was that?” Merle asked.

“I don’t know but, oh my god…” Glenn trailed off as he watched the horse and rider disappear from where she came from.

“Come on now, put it back in your pants kid,” Merle snarked, “We still got shit to do…”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Your boy is in good hands, Herschel is a better doctor than some of the doctors I worked with.” Mina assured the worried woman as they sat outside on the porch. It was hot in the house and at least outside there was a breeze and you could breathe.

“Thank you Mina,” Lori gave her a weary smile, it was all too much, first losing Sophia and now Carl, “When is your baby due?”

“September.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited.” She answered, it felt strange to be happy, but when the baby started moving inside of her a few weeks ago it revitalized her and gave her hope. Missing Daryl would never go away, but loving his child helped.

“The father?” Lori asked and Mina just shook her head, “Is he dead?”

“I’m pretty sure…”

“I’m sorry,” Lori soothed and grabbed her hand. The two women sat there lost in their own thoughts for a bit, “There’s a little girl in our group who’s lost, some of the men have been out looking for her, that’s how my son got shot.”

“Her mother must be beside herself…I’m so sorry for both of you and your troubles, I don’t wish anything like this on any mother.”

“She’s back on the highway with Dale,” Lori stated, “This new world is not for the weak…”

“You aren’t kidding, good thing women are so versatile.”

“Amen,” Lori said with a smile, “I’d like it if we were all together, do you think that would be alright? To bring the rest of our group here?”

“This isn’t my house, but Herschel is a good christian man, I don’t think he would turn you all away.”

“It would be great to have a place to rest and wait for Carl to recover, they could still go out looking for Sophia from here, there's two guys who track really well, I'm sure they could go from here too,we aren't too far away from where she was last seen.”

"My husband was a tracker, and a hunter…" Mina said softly, almost to herself.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Lori said again, she was so lucky that Rick had returned, being alone in this world was not something she wished on anyone. 

"Thank you…"

Being a mother in the apocalypse was going to be a challenge that she prayed she was up for. There were new dangers now that they had never had to worry about. Guns, and the dead rising up and walking, it was a nightmare that she just wished to wake up from.

//////////////////////

Inside the house T-Dog was getting patched up by Beth, after scraping his arm and almost going septic out on the highway. If the other window had been open in the kitchen instead of the one in the dining room Lori and Mina would have heard the ensuing conversation, carried outside by the wind but it was closed. So a conversation that would have changed her world went on and she never knew about it.

“Where’d you get these antibiotics; who's Merle Dixon?”

“Guy in our group, said he took it for the clap.”

“Well, this Merle’s clap was the best thing to ever happen to you.”

The screen door opened and Lori and Mina walked in. Lori went down the hall to look in on Carl and Mina came into the kitchen.

“Oh here’s the other nurse Mina, can you look at Theodore’s arm, Maggie is helping her father?”

“I’m sure you did fine Beth but I will…” She walked over and sat down opposite the man with the bandaged arm, “Hi Theodore…”

“Call me T- Dog…” He answered, it was funny how no one used last names now that the world had gone to shit, it didn’t even matter, not many things did anymore.

“Sure, and I’m Mina.” She looked at his arm and the dressing Beth had put on it, “He needs antibiotics, ask Herschel.”

“He brought his own, it seems his friend had the clap…” Beth laughed as she held up the bottle.

“Then you’ll be just fine,” Mina smiled at him, “Good to meet you T- Dog, I hear your group has had some bad luck…”

“Yeah we have, but we’re getting by.”

“It’s all we can do right?”

"These sure are strange days ma'am," He stated.

"Indeed they are…"

.


	10. Requiem for a Lost Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to show that they were both reaching out to each other at the same time during the six months before the ZA goes down, but I did not want to drag it out forever so I came up with this. It tells the story in a few words I think. Also I want to thank everyone who is reading and commenting, it means so much to writers when you speak on their work, especially if you are enjoying it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this one now because it's short.

***Can I come over?

***It's Eleven o'clock at night. Why are you texting me so late?

***It’s your weekend off. It’s been weeks, I wanna see you..

****Alright.

////////////////////////////////////

“I want us to be the way we were, I wanna come home, Mina.”

“You’re drunk, call me when you’re sober.”

“Don’t hang up, I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

///////////////////////////////////

“You like that?”

“Mmmmmm.”

“I know you do.”

“More!”

“You want more?”

“Harder!”

////////////////////////////////////

“You going over to sneak in her window again like a thief?”

“I use the front door but I am taking this any way I can get it right now.”

“You all got the strangest divorce I’ve ever seen.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////

“OH MY GOD! FUCK YES! FUCK! YES!

“Jesus Christ that was amazing!”

“I’m not gonna stay, I know you have work in the morning.”

“Don’t even think about leaving.”

/////////////////////////////////////////

“This is the last time.”

“Yeah, OK, want me to bring pizza?”

////////////////////////////////////////

“I’m sorry I know it’s late, but will you come over I can't sleep?”

////////////////////////////////////////

“You’re still the first person I want to call when I have a bad day or a good one.”

////////////////////////////////////////

“That’s it baby, fuck me good!”

“I need you to cum Daryl.”

“Oh god dammit! Don’t you fucking stop!”

///////////////////////////////////////

“Mina, pick up. I need to see you.”

////////////////////////////////////////

“Will you tell him I called Merle?”

///////////////////////////////////////

“Hey, I was just thinking about you.”

/////////////////////////////////////

“I saw this and it reminded me of you.”

"I love it thank you."

////////////////////////////////

"Quit holding out, give it to me! Give it to me!"

"Oh god! Oh my god!"

"Cum on me Mina!"

//////////////////////////////////

"I can't do this anymore Mina."

////////////////////////////////

“Oh Daryl…hold me close.”

“I love you.”

//////////////////////////////////

“I knew you’d be sitting out here watching the storm.”

“You're soaked, come inside!”

“I rode the bike to work this morning.”

“A weather report, ever hear about it?”

“I’m just trying to get you in the shower with me later...:”

//////////////////////////////////////////

“Daryl call me when you get this.”

////////////////////////////////////////

***Thanks for talking. I think I'll be able to sleep now. 

****Goodnight 

****sleep well ttyl

///////

"Mina, where the fuck are you? It's not safe, we're coming to get you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you all ready? It's happening in the next chapter. Thank you for hanging in there with me .


	11. Better Late than Never

This camping in the dudes back yard was a bad idea and Daryl made no excuse about how he felt. Merle was onboard with anything that kept him with his brother. Because he had come to be an integral part of the group, he, Shane, and Rick bounced ideas off of each other constantly and Daryl just rolled his eyes most of the time. Sometimes the unholy trinity argued and Daryl saw the writing on the wall. Shane was not a team player and still hell bent on going to fort Bening, this was a stopover to him. 

It was just a bad setup, they were better off if they kept moving, here they would be sitting ducks for any nit wits out there, not to mention the dead. Merle, Grimes and Shane could just have their little dictatorship, Daryl didn’t give two shits.

"You can go if you want Daryl." Rick assured him, “But we’re staying…”

"My other plans fell through." Daryl called over his shoulder as he got ready to walk off again to hunt or something, anything to get away from these assholes.

Maybe he would be better off on his own, maybe it was time. But first he had to do his best to find that little girl, then he would leave. If Merle wanted to stay, so be it, but Daryl was done with taking orders.

It was getting hot and his mood was getting foul, there was a ruckus that he could see out of the corner of his eye and he ignored it. The people that lived there were apparently coming out to welcome them, Lori and Shane had met them and insisted they were good people. Fuck That.

Up on the porch of the house, a screen door slammed and a few people came out; Daryl kept walking, he wasn’t interested in meeting anyone else. That was just new people to be annoyed by, and eventually lose, like everyone else. He turned to walk away and go look for Sophia, but then turned back for some reason and he didn’t know why.

His body wanted to be out of there, he was riled up and he wanted to get to the woods where he felt most at home fast, but he stopped. There was a vibration in the air, tension, but not quite tension.

Mina saw a man in the distance holding a crossbow, she could tell by his walk and the sleeveless shirt, even from so far away, she would know him anywhere. The lean planes of his body and the way he carried himself, that goddamn sexy walk of his! There was only one.

She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t imagining it, sometimes when she was on the edge of sleep she would see him in her room, at night or early in the morning. This could just be a mirage, something she wanted so desperately to see that her mind had conjured it up.

“Da, Daryl…” She whispered, “Daryl.” This time a little louder.

Something told him to look up and he did, what he saw made him do a double take. No, it couldn’t be...even from a distance he knew it was her though, after all this bullshit he’d finally found her.

The door opened wider and there she was standing next to a blonde teenager, after months of not knowing if she was dead or alive; his heart was ready to burst.

“Daryl.” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Mina!!!” He screamed, dropped his crossbow and took off running towards her as Merle, Shane, and Rick stood there with their mouths gaping open.

All anyone could hear was the pounding of his footsteps in the dirt as he ran to her. His breath was coming out in puffs and he had dropped his crossbow, his weapon and protection where he stood. He couldn’t get to her fast enough.

To the members of the group who didn’t know who she was, the woman on the porch looked like she was about to faint or start bawling, maybe both. She screamed "Daryl!" again and launched herself out of the doorway. 

“Well I’ll be damned…” Merle smiled, “Alright then…”

“What’s going on here.” Andrea asked, she had never seen Daryl move that fast in all the time she had known him. 

Behind Andrea Lori blanched, this poor girl had told her about her husband just the night before. She wished she had known then, she could have eased her mind and given Mina some peace. But it had never occurred to her that she was talking about Daryl.

“That's his wife…” Merle stated matter of factly as Mina flew down the stairs towards Daryl wiping hysterical tears out of her eyes. It was something to watch, he remembered how much they fussed and used to fight, but how much they had loved each other too; it was all forgotten now.

“Wife?” Rick said with an evident shock.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me?” Shane asked dumbfounded as he ran his hand through his thick dark hair; he had been thinking of trying to hit it with Dixon’s pregnant wife, what were the fucking odds.

“Well, technically Mina’s his ex wife, but I don’t think that really took. Ya know?” Merle chuckled as he watched them meet half way down the driveway and Daryl picked Mina up off her feet. Merle smiled as they embraced. “I think he just got his attitude adjustment…” He cackled to Andrea, “And it was sorely needed.”

“Jesus, woman!” Daryl exclaimed, “Where the fuck ya been?” He held her so tight, vowing to never let her out of his sight again. Not for one second, even if she didn't want him back. He would still protect her forever.

They hugged for a long time just breathing each other in, he hadn’t even realized what was different about her. He saw it plain as day, she was pregnant, but the message hadn’t gotten to his brain yet...

Then he looked at her, really looked at her. She was roughly six months pregnant. There was no denying it.

"Mina?" He questioned and she nodded, wiping her hand across her face and his eyes grew soft; he loved her so much in that moment, more than he had ever thought possible.

Suddenly everything that had happened in the past few months didn't matter. Everything that had and hadn’t been between them didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the fact that they were together now.

“You’re late,” She laughed.

“Bullshit, looks like I’m right on time…” He teased and hugged her again, “I’m sorry baby, I was looking for you.”

"I know you were, I looked for you too…" She kissed him softly, “No more sorrys, no more sorrys…”

"Somehow we missed each other... but it's ok," He hugged her again, "It's ok, we're together now."

"Good thing because if you missed this baby being born I was gonna be really pissed at you."

Daryl hugged her tighter, “So just like old times then?” 

The weight of the last few months slipped off his shoulders, she was in his arms again and for good. There was nothing better than this feeling he was feeling right now and he doubted anything would ever top it.

////////////////////////////////////

That night Daryl had the first shower since the CDC and it was heaven, after that he laid his head down on a soft pillow in a real bed next to his woman. It had been too long since they had done this. 

They stayed up long after the tents were set up and everyone was settled on the farm. There was so much to talk about, so much had been left unsaid in the past and it was time for new beginnings. 

Face to face they laid under the comforter whispering together, running their hands over each other in gratitude for a second chance. 

“I can’t believe you're here,” Mina said as she touched his face, Daryl placed his hand over hers and kissed her palm.

“I’m here, and I’m never leaving, even if you tell me to go away again, I won’t.” Daryl answered.

“I’m sorry,” She murmured, “I’m so sorry…”

“No more sorrys," He repeated the words back to her,"It’s ok honey.”

“It’s not ok…”

“Yes it is, whatever happened, happened, we get to start over now, together.”

He brought both hands to cup her face and she nodded her head, Daryl placed one soft kiss on her lips.

“I never stopped loving you, I never will.” He stated just so it was on the record, “As far as I’m concerned we’re still married.”

He took her hand and put it up to his, he had put his ring back on earlier that day. Mina had already been wearing hers again. In the moonlight, coming into the window of the dark room they glowed.

“It’s good to have this back on, I’m glad you put yours on again. No more taking them off.” He said as if there wasn’t any question about it.

“Oh Daryl, here…” She moved his hand down over her stomach so he could feel it, “Feel that?”

His face lit up and he nodded, "Oh my God.”

“You feel it,” She smiled in the darkness at him.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” Daryl whispered in awe, he had never felt a baby move before, and this baby he had helped create, he was blown away by that fact.

“That’s our baby.”

“...unbelievable."

"I'm so glad you found me...us."

“I got sidetracked a little, stuck in my own head, in grief…”

“Me too,” She didn’t want to dwell on sadness, “If this baby is a girl, can we name her Paulina?”

“After my mom?” He smiled at the sweet gesture, “She would have liked that.”

“We’re ok,” She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same, “We’re ok.”

“We are,” He answered and hugged her tight.

////////////////////////////////////


	12. Nothings Gonna Hurt You

*******Whispered something in your ear  
It was a perverted thing to say  
But I said it anyway  
Made you smile and look away

Nothing's gonna hurt you baby  
As long as you're with me you'll be just fine  
Nothing's gonna hurt you baby  
Nothing's gonna take you from my side*******

Nothings Gonna Hurt You Baby By Cigarettes After Sex

Daryl grinned at her from under the blankets, it was all so surreal. The day before he had been a broken man, for weeks he walked around in a daze of grief, lashing out at anyone and everyone who came near him. Now she was here and he was back from the dead.

He wasn’t about to question how this had happened, he knew better than to wonder deeply about good fortune. This wasn’t the day for him to be burned by the magnifying glass he imagined, he wasn’t the ant today. Maybe it would be him again, but not today. In this new world he had already learned to live one day at a time.

The day had started out as a shit show and ended in the best possible way and all he wanted to do was hold her. 

It had been roughly ten weeks, since the turn, this family had given her a home and he was so filled with gratitude for that. He had thanked the man of the house over and over again that day, if Mina and Maggie hadn’t been together that day God only knew what would have happened to her.

It was late, but they didn’t want to sleep, there was so much to say.

“I won't break Daryl…” She rolled over onto her stomach and he started running his hands over her back. She knew what he was thinking before he even said a word. Usually they were both wildly aggressive with each other in bed, not always but a lot of the time.

“I know, just give me a minute to get used to this…” His hands were gentle and familiar, they always took turns rubbing each other's backs at night when they were first married.

“You’re going to be a father,” She grinned at him and in the soft light of the night she was lovely to him.

“Mina, I know we had a lot of problems, and I know some or most were my fault, but the world is different now. And I have a lot to protect.”

Mina was silent, they hadn’t talked about what had happened to him and Merle on the road. She had been with the Greene’s this whole time and he was grateful that they took care of her. But she needed to know that he still used his fists if he needed to. This shelter she had, was just that, shelter, she had no idea what the world was like now.

“There’s these things that happened in my group while we were on the road. Things we saw and had to do. And people, they're just so dumb, even at the end of the world.”

“And you expected something else?” She laughed, “Tell me…”

“Before her husband came back; one of the guys and a married woman. Like a god damned soap opera and one of the other ladies, Carol, she’s good people, you’ll like her. Well, her husband; he was like Travis I think…”

Daryl never mentioned his father to her except to say he wasn’t nice to him or Merle and especially not to their mother. She knew though, Merle had told her once that Travis never laid a loving hand on either of them, but that didn’t mean he didn’t lay any hands on them. 

Maybe that was why she had been so jammed up over his fighting, it had just occurred to her. Self knowledge was a dangerous and fickle thing. She had wasted so much time, now it would be different, Mina was not going to give up on him, on them so easily again.

“The guy...was it that guy Shane?”

As soon it was out of her mouth she regretted it. She felt his body tense next to her. The separation was agony for both of them, but he was still Daryl.

“Why do you ask?”

Mina hesitated, the last thing she wanted was any kind of animosity between the two men, but she had been curious. There was tea to be spilled, she knew little of what was going on the past two months in the world. The Greene farm and family was all she knew now.

“I met him is all…”

“Oh you did, huh?”

Mina rolled over to face him, thinking to herself soon she wouldn’t be able to do that. She was afraid sometimes of childbirth here with no medical equipment, but that was a conversation for another day. Now she had to put out the fire she had inadvertently started on their first night back together.

“I understand that things are different now, you might have to defend us. I get it, and I was wrong to try and make you be something you aren’t…”

Daryl hesitated and smiled at her, “Nice try at distraction, you know me well.”

Of course she did, he was her best friend, her favorite person on earth, no one knew her better than he did either.

If she told him it was nothing or not to worry about it, that would cause a fight, first night back together or not, she did know him well. The truth was a better option.

“He flirted with me a little bit that’s all.” She said with a touch of hesitation and Daryl was an observant man.

“You’re pregnant, wearing a wedding ring!” Daryl hissed, “What the fuck!”

“You just told me he doesn’t care about that.”

“Oh, he’s gonna!” Daryl snapped back and made a move to get up. In her joy of being with him again she forgot just how he was wired, but the thing that came between them before was not going to rear its ugly head again. Not when they had just found each other again.

“You are not leaving this bed. I’ve slept here for two and a half months missing you.” She grabbed his hands, “Please, let’s not spend our first night together talking about that slimy dickhead.”

Daryl laughed at that. This was never about her, or trust, “Really, you missed me huh?” He decided to let it go for now. She was right, they had waited too long for this, their emotions were raw after each thinking the other was dead.

“I missed you, even before all of this went down.”

“And here I thought I was a booty call all this time.”

She smiled then, “Sometimes you were.”

“And I don’t give a fuck, since the minute I met you I haven't wanted to be more than ten feet away from you. I let you use me anytime you want…”

“What about now,” She crawled over him and sat up straddling him. He was immediately half hard just by feeling her against him. Truthfully since they got into bed after their showers.

“I’ll say yes to anything you want.” He replied bringing his hands up to her hips.

She leaned down and kissed him and it was like coming home again. Their lips fit perfectly together as they always did.

“We aren’t done talking about that other thing that I don’t wanna mention right at the moment.”

She smiled down at him and let her hair hang in his face, for some reason that always did it for him. He loved the smell of her hair, now it was all the more precious being that he never thought he’d see her again.

“I know, you’re like a dog with a bone sometimes.”

“I thought I’d never see you again,” He said suddenly, “Give me love.”

She leaned down and kissed him sweetly, lingering over his face just to take it all in, “We’ll have to be quiet.”

“Like that ever happens,” Daryl teased.

“Speak for yourself,” Mina grinned down at him and it was like they had never been apart. She lifted her sleep shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor. Daryl grinned, as far as days in his life that were spectacular, this was one of them, maybe the best of them. 

The day they met, the day he asked her to marry him, the day they got married, all paled in comparison as his hands reached up over her stomach, lingering there for a second before traveling up to her breasts.

“I thought you were dead,” He whispered, “I was…”

“We aren’t.” She reassured, as she leaned down to press her body against his. When she kissed him this time it was with more passion, his hands traveled up her back while their lips slid against each other.

Daryl rolled them back over, and trailed kisses down her neck. Careful to be quiet Mina let out the softest sigh, this was not going to be the usual throwing each other around the bed.

It didn't matter to her and as she dug her hands into his hair, Daryl groaned against her stomach as he licked his way down her body. He looked up at her and winked as he pulled down her underwear and tossed them over his shoulder.

The promise was there, Mina knew what she was in for, Daryl ate pussy like it was his day job, she never had to worry that he thought of it as a chore or a bargaining tool. He didn’t, it was by far his favorite sexual act, he knew just how to make her cum fast. Her breath came out in pants as she struggled to but kept silent, and he smiled against her.

His cock was throbbing, and his blood beat behind his ears at a deafening roar, never in the past few months had he thought this would happen again. All of the sadness and grief was gone, nothing was going to separate them again.

Her hands came down to her sides and she grabbed bunches of the sheets in her fists, he didn’t stop until she practically levitated off the bed. Then she was pulling him up to her welcoming him inside her.

“Oh Christ almighty,” He hissed softly into her ear. Mina pulled him close and met his hips thrust for thrust, careful not to hit the headboard against the wall but it didn’t matter. It was slow and heartfelt mixed with gratitude and joy. 

They both slept that night, better and sounder than they had in weeks.


	13. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I had a few chapters written ahead of time but now it's just writing as I go. Plus I'm working a bunch of overtime. Thank you to everyone who is reading and commenting. I love you all!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)

"Yeah we're married again. I told her to forget this divorce shit." Daryl said to Merle the next day as they hunted the woods for Sophia. The reunion was short lived as everyone was aware how long Sophia had actually been gone. It was weighing on everyone the more time that went by.

The brothers had found her doll early the morning before they got to the Greene's and were hopeful as they approached a row of houses on the other side of the farm. 

"That's not how that works little brother." Merle laughed, then hollered for what felt like the millionth time in three days, "Sophia!"

"She agreed with me. We both learned a lesson from all this shit," He explained, “The rings are back on for good, glad I carried it in my pocket all this time.”

"You both are a couple of weirdos." Merle laughed, but he couldn’t deny the change in his brother already,this was good news, maybe the best news, “Guess you’re alright with being here now, huh?”

“Guess I am,” Daryl gave him a wry grin.

“I’m happy for ya,” Merle explained, “I’m glad you two got your heads back on straight, too bad it took the end of the world to do it.”

“I guess it takes what it takes.” Then Daryl hollered, "Sophia!"

“I guess that’s right.”

“How's it going with Andrea?”

Merle gave him a side eye glance, he had thought they were being discrete, “You know about that?”

“Course I know about it, I’m not blind,” Daryl laughed, “You didn’t have to keep it on the down low, I’m happy for you.”

“Just didn’t want to throw it in your face.”

“That’s kind of you brother, but I want you to be happy too, even if I wasn’t.”

///////////

Mina cleared the table from breakfast as Maggie and Beth set out to put the food away, they had all eaten a nice breakfast together, the Green family, Mina and the newcomers. It was the usual morning routines but now things were all different. 

There were more faces around the table and more out on the porch, it was like a big commune. Maggie had been sure to tease her a little about reunion sex, all in good fun and it made Beth blush from ear to ear. 

“So you guys are back together I see, and heard!”

“You didn’t hear a thing,” Mina replied, “We were quiet.”

“Uh huh,” Maggie continued.

Reluctantly she had said goodbye to Daryl earlier as he went out the door to continue the hunt for Sophia. It was what had to be done, and he was a stand up guy. He wanted nothing more than to lay around in bed with her half the morning like they used to but that was not him. Not now when so many things had to be done.

Mina understood, and was proud of him for not giving up.

Lori lingered until the Greene girls were leaving and Maggie just quirked her eyebrow at her as she walked out the door. 

She had an idea of what Lori wanted to talk to Mina about, and wanted to give the two women privacy. Glenn had grabbed some things for Lori when they went to the pharmacy the day before at her request. She had kept her mouth shut, but Lori knew that Maggie knew what she asked for. 

"Can I talk to you a minute Mina?" Lori asked and she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. 

"Sure, you wanna sit down," Lori nodded and Mina wiped her hands on a dishtowel and sat at the table with the other woman.

"What's up?"

Lori hesitated, Mina wondered what was causing the haunted look in the other woman's eyes. She had seen that look in peoples eyes when all hope was gone for their loved one’s in the ICU where she had worked before all this happened.

"I'm pregnant, Glen got me a test on his last run. This is terrible timing you know," Lori said, "I figured you of all people would get it."

"Yes I sure do," Mina laughed, "Getting pregnant by my ex husband during the apocalypse was not on my vision board."

Lori laughed, "I saw that greeting though, every one did. You two love each other."

"We do, and for some reason it wasn't enough…"

"Will it be now?"

"Yes, I think so, we've both changed, and it's a different world now. For better or worse, we're in this together now."

"Rick was missing, or just… I thought he was dead, and I didn't spend any time mourning. When I talked to you the other night, it was clear you weren't over what you thought was his death. I felt like you would never get over it. I wish I had been…"

"But he's here now right, and Carl is doing great. So it’s going to be fine."

"It isn't Rick's, the baby and he knows it isn't." She swallowed hard, Mina took one guess as to who's it was, Daryl had not named names but she remembered their conversation, "l ignored my first skipped period thinking, I don't know what I was thinking but then I saw you and I…the pieces finally fit together."

"It made sense, I get it. I didn't know until I started throwing up every morning. Still I didn't want to face it."

"Did you always want the baby," Lori asked hesitantly.

"I don't know, at first I was shell shocked I guess. I had just found out, Daryl and I were, I don't know what we were actually. And then this happened and, well, it was taken out of my hands."

"Never in a million years would I have guessed that he was who you told me about. It's like he's done a 360 turn in sixteen hours."

"He was a dick wasn't he?"

"Yeah, big time, but at least now we know why," Lori grinned at her.

"You and I are going to be just fine Lori," She reached over and took her hand, "We'll watch out for each other OK whatever happens, we're going to be just fine?"

//////////////////

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blue flash go by his peripheral sight. “Oh, heads up brother...Sophia!” He called through the woods and took off running.

She had been gone almost four days, but they had found her.

The little girl came out from behind a tree, ran towards them and right into Merle’s arms.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A word about my not killing Sophia. Most of my ZA WD stories don’t follow canon very closely, I like to weave parts of canon into it and put my own spin on it. My angst is usually people being apart from each other, or estranged somehow, that was a theme in my life and it comes through in my stories. 
> 
> Loss and separation were two things that I dealt with for many years in my life. We write what we know right? You can read my Caryl story Nirvana Girl if you are curious about that. 
> 
> It’s not that I don’t kill people, I kill my OC’s all the time in my Mac stories, cause that’s what he does. Sometimes they don't die and sometimes they kill him, so I do kill people. But I don’t kill Sophia or Carl for that matter, maybe because I'm a mother or just a big softie lol, happy reading. I love you all!


	14. The Shape of Things to Come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I got caught up in writing another ZA Daryl thing that I want to finish before I post it. Thank you for reading xxxxx

Sophia rode the whole way back to the farm on Merle’s shoulders, even though she was way to old for that, she asked and Merle could not turn her down. Daryl had his crossbow at the ready in case anything or anyone came near them. They were not taking a chance that this girl would not be reunited with her Mama. 

She babbled as they went about what she had been doing the four days alone as if it was nothing. It sounded like she was talking about her day at school or a trip to the mall. She had spent two nights in a house not too far from the farm but she had been too scared to try and find them, it was far from the road where she had last been with the group. Now it was forgotten as the two men assured her that her mom was waiting for her.

“First I drank some water from the stream and then I found some berries...:”

Merle rolled his eyes at Daryl but they were both so relieved that they weren’t going to have to bury a child, not today.They listened as the little girl told her tale all the way home. The innocence of the girl warmed both their hearts, it had been a long time since they were boys and their lives had been so much different.

“Soon this is gonna be you, brother, with your own kid.” Merle stated.

“What do you mean Mr. Merle?” Sophia asked from atop his shoulders.

“Oh yeah that's right, you don’t know,” Merle looked up at her, “Daryl found his wife, and she’s having a baby!”

“Ooooooo I can’t wait,” She squealed and clapped her hands together, “I didn’t know you had a wife.”

“Yeah, I lost her for a bit,” He answered.

“I wonder if she was scared like I was.”

“She probably was,” Merle answered.

“You better keep a good eye on her now Mr. Daryl.”

“Kid, call us Merle and Daryl, ok,” Merle asked.

“My mom says I shouldn’t call adults by their first names.”

“You can if we want you too, I’ll ask her about it ok?” Daryl replied.

“Ok, but she’s kind of strict,” Sophia replied. 

“Then I’ll ask her nice,” Daryl answered with a laugh.

Once they were on the Greene property Lori spotted them and ran to get Carol who nearly passed out when she saw the two men and her daughter coming from the distance. Merle let Sophia down and they both watched her run towards her mother who was coming across the field that Rick and Shane had run across just a few days ago.

//////////////////////////////////////////////

“You’re both my heros, for the rest of my life, every day you both will be in my, in our prayers,” Carol declared, wiping away tears. Sophia was clinging to her legs and by now half of the residents of the farm were there. 

Daryl and Merle were not used to praise, both of them were embarrassed to have the attention on themselves. Daryl couldn't wait to just get a shower and spend some time with Mina.

They had a lot of time to make up for, and a few things to talk about. One of those things was lurking in the front yard, but Daryl could see him a mile away, and knew exactly what his game was. 

Mina was in the distance making her way down the stairs of the porch. It was hot out and she was moving slowly, Maggie flew past her with a medical bag on her way to check on the second child in trouble that week.

“Sorry Min,” Maggie called back and Mina waved her off.

“I’m fine,” She stopped to catch her breath, looking out over the front yard at Daryl, smiling at his shyness with Carol’s praise. His humility was something she had loved most about him. Daryl had helped because he was needed, nothing more.

He never had an agenda for anything he did for others. 

Most men only looked out for number one, but he had been different and he had won her heart because of it. He looked up and then over at her and she waved.

At the foot of the stairs Shane waited and offered her a hand getting down the stairs; even from a distance she could see Daryl’s glare at the other man and he was seething.

“Hey, Mina,” He gave her a smile and his eyes lingered on hers just a second longer than it should have. 

“Hey Shane, look they’re back…did you know the little girl?”

“A little bit, “ He stepped in stride next to her as they approached the rest of the group.

"Daryl and Merle never gave up on her," Mina mused.

She could tell Daryl was pissed at the attention Shane was paying to her, but he acted no different. This was a happy moment , one of many in a few days after so much misery. 

//////////////////////////////////

When all the fanfare died down and everyone went their separate ways back to their chores for the day, she took his hand, “It is an honor to walk by your side.”

Daryl huffed, “Stop blowing smoke..” Secretly it made him happy to know she felt that way about him. She was one of the only people in the world who's opinion of him mattered. 

He was still getting used to them being together again, part of him thought it was because of the baby and he knew that wasn’t enough to keep a couple together. It had been on his mind all morning despite the talk he and Merle had. Both of them had been so relieved to be reunited

They had some real problems that a night of knocking boots might not fix outright. It was a start though, and just being in each other’s space was so helpful.

“I have never been more proud to be with you,” Mina answered, “That’s the truth.”

“I ain’t no hero.” He continued and she squeezed his hand more.

“You and Merle went out every day until you found her, you didn’t give up when other people would have, when other people did.”

“Stop,” He grinned a bashful grin that she just loved, she saw it sometimes when they were together, not much towards the end but it was back and she welcomed it.

Mina stopped and turned to him, leaning her forehead on his as people walked passed them on their way back to the house.

“Mina,”

“Daryl," She grinned at him, "I have always been proud of you. I'm your number one fan, and not in the creepy Annie Wilks way." 

Then they were both laughing and in the distance behind them Merle approached Shane who was watching the couple intently.

"Forget it man, that is never gonna happen," Merle stated as he walked past him. Shane turned at watched Merle go towards the house them looked back at Mina and Daryl hugging. His hand went down to his gun, there was a way and he knew it.


	15. Forever, For Always, No Matter What

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, you know...life.

“This isn’t high school and I’m not dealing with this drama,” Mina laughed as Daryl crawled over the bed towards her. Despite any differences they might have had, they were solid now. Finally. The room the Greene's had given her was on the opposite hallway from everyone else but they still kept their voices down. There was a bathroom right outside the door, which was why she was in that room. Once the Greene’s knew she was expecting a baby, they gave her a room big enough to put a crib in and closest to a bathroom.

They had fully adopted her into their family and now Daryl too. Dinner together that night with both of the groups milling about with the joy of finding Sophia and Carl steadily recovering from his injuries was just what everyone needed.

Shane had been giving Daryl the stare down over the dinner table, but both of them ignored the daggers that were coming their way. Daryl and Merle had gone outside for a smoke after the meal was done and Shane had come out smoking a cigar he got from who knew where. 

They mumbled fake pleasantries, but it was obvious to Merle that neither man was ever going to have a nice word to say to the other again. Daryl had told her all about it, which was what brought up the high school thought.

It wasn’t like before, she wasn’t mad at him the way she used to be, the end of the world had made her appreciate all the good of him, and overlook what used to plague her mind so before. It was like it all melted away when she was in his arms now. The night before had been sweet and tender, a homecoming. 

Before they would have been arguing over it.

Now it was a playful joke between them, not a rip roaring fight like it would have been a few months back. As Daryl got closer to her, she remembered him as the tall, gawky teen he had once been, but was no longer. He was a man now, her man.

He had just been her classmate Merle Dixon’s little brother then, until the day he became so much more for her. Daryl was the longest relationship of her life, and she was the longest in his life too, not counting Merle. To think they had almost thrown it all away.

It was funny how perspective changed things, the only thing that mattered was being together now, all of the old shit was just...old shit.

“I’m just gonna kick his ass, no big deal,” He grinned at her, but he wasn’t mad, not the way he used to get; his eyes were shining with mischief and he looked so young to her suddenly. She remembered him as a boy, he had been so much younger than her, or so it seemed at the time.

“Like out behind the bleachers after the buses leave?”

Charlie Pace had spied on her for years, Daryl had joined in when he was about fourteen and hooked up with Charlie and his gang of juvenile delinquents. That would have made her sixteen and way out of his league, and he knew it. She remembered how she would laugh with her friends about the two of them climbing that tree in his yard to get a view of her sunbathing in her backyard.

He looked young like that now, like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. Maybe it had been, he was...different.

“Easy,” He kissed his way up her neck, “Peasy. I can take him.”

“Can we not discuss this right now? I was hoping to get some…”

Daryl sat back and smiled again, “Oh you were, were you?”

“Well, yeah,” She grinned back at him, “I missed you…”

“Don’t think that I don’t know what you're doing…”

“And what am I doing?” She gripped his shirt and pulled him closer to her.

“Distraction…” He murmured as their eyes met, then their lips, “It’s working.”

He laid down next to her and ran his hands over her hip as she turned to face him.

"Tell me what you want…" He pressed his lips to her neck and traveled towards her ear.

"I want your cock inside me, as deep as possible…" Daryl groaned at her dirty words, she knew how to push his buttons.

His lips were at her ear now, causing chills to erupt over her skin as he pressed against her, “This what you want?” He pressed his rock hard cock against her, "How do you want it?"

“Mmmmmm…fast and hard.” She answered as Daryl gripped her hips, and she reached for him, “Fuck me good and leave me for dead.”

“You’re sure?” He grinned at her.

Mina nodded and he crushed his mouth down onto hers and let his body slide down against her. She let her legs fall apart and she moaned at the feel of him against her; she could already feel wetness pooling between her legs.

Daryl was already grinding himself into her and plundering her mouth with his tongue, hot and dirty. She already knew that he fucked the way he kissed, was in for the ride of her life and she deserved it after all they had been through.

His lips worked their way down her throat hot and wet, then he bit her collarbone and sucked lightly. Her hips shot up into his and she wrapped her leg around his waist, pulling him down harder against her.

“God damn, I was going to tell you to hang on but maybe I need to.” He said inhaling the scent of her hair.

“You do need to hang on and maybe so do I.” She panted into his ear, and his cock reacted immediately, throbbing in time with the blood pumping through his body.

“What the lady wants the lady gets.” He whispered into her ear and his breath was hot against her neck, his touch was scorching hot and as his hand snaked over her breast and found her nipple, she was sure she stood at the gates of heaven.

Then she felt his mouth on her other breast through her t-shirt and she wanted it off right now. She pulled at her shirt and he helped her pull it over her head revealing a black lacy bra that made him go cross-eyed.

“This is gonna be so good.” He moaned as he buried his face back in her chest. “I’m gonna fuck you so good Mina.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

He reached his hand down to find her damp underwear and let out a groan when he realized she wanted him as much as he wanted her. It shocked him every time, even after all the years together. Sometimes he was that kid spying on the prom queen wishing for a chance in his head still.

“Are you for real, Jesus Mina.” She pushed every single one of his buttons, every damn dirty fantasy was coming into his mind that he had ever had in his life. She was making them real right now as her hands skimmed down his back and her lips explored his neck looking for the right spot. Everyone had one and he had found hers just moments ago.

She raked her teeth across his neck, just like he had done to her and she swore she saw his eyes roll back into his head. Bingo.

Then she went in for the kill shot and reached down between them and slid her hand along the bulge in his boxers and Daryl hissed in pleasure at her touch.  
“I want this.” She whispered as she moved her hand over him. 

“Are you for real?” He said again as his fingers slid over her panties, “Are we really together…”

She grinned in the darkness of her room, now theirs, with only the moon to light coming from the window, but he could see her eyes bright and merry, “Yes baby, and we’re never going to be apart again,” She promised as she put her small hands on his dick again and he thought for sure he was about to lose it. He could usually hold out for a long time, but he had never been so turned on in his life.

Daryl sat up next to her, to get her hands off him or it was going to be over before it started. He looked down at her and she rose up on her elbows to look at him.  
Slowly he made his way down her body with hot burning kisses all over her skin, he moaned along the way and she dug her hands into his hair.

Mina looked down at him with lust hooded eyes, trying to keep her composure and not let on he was making her crazy. He looked up at her and stopped kissing her leg but kept his cheek against her.

“I know.” Daryl laughed. “Everyone comes back for more turns on the Dixon scream machine.”

She threw her head back and laughed a musical laugh that told him she wasn’t laughing at him at all. She was pleased by his style, always had been and by the fact that he could be just the way she wanted him, dirty and funny; there really was no better combination.

“Impress me Dixon and I’ll let you know if we need to go to Six Flags instead.” She said laughing still, at his reference to the old ride there, The Great American Scream Machine.

They had the rest of each other’s clothes off in seconds and he kissed her again and his hands were all over her as he had done this with her hundreds of times. He slid his palm over her breast and she arched her back off the bed, then his other hand was on her stomach just resting there.

Slowly he inched his fingers lower and lower teasing her in the best way possible until she felt his fingers just where she wanted them.

“Fuck, that’s good.” He said in a hot whisper. “Spread your legs for me.”

She complied allowing her knees to fall against the mattress as his fingers circled slowly over her bundle of nerves. He was not an amateur, not by a long shot, he touched her with skill and purpose and like a man that truly loved women and their bodies.

“Oh, God.” She groaned, pulling her hand through her hair.

“Daryl’s fine sweetheart.” He said, bringing his mouth down to her nipple.

“Fuckin funny aren’t you?” She panted out as he used his mouth and fingers on her and she was so close already.

“Getting you off first.” He said. “Relax and let me do my thing. You ain't gonna need six flags when I’m done with you.”

He glided his tongue over her nipple and at the same time circled around with one finger between her legs, so slowly it was almost painful.

“Say you want it.” He whispered.

“I want it.” She answered immediately and that pleased him, she wasn’t shy in bed and that was a good thing. “Make me cum.”

He almost came when she said that and she didn’t stop, he had to mentally check out to pull himself back from the edge with her, and he had asked for this. She wasn’t like any other girl he had ever been with, that was the thing. She would say whatever he wanted and that had always been the most staggering turn on.

“Pleasepleaseplease.” She would give him just what he wanted as long as she got what she wanted. Then to her surprise, he stopped and was lifting her up by her knees and then his tongue was there, where his fingers had just been and she was screaming as wave after wave crashed over her.

Mina pulled him down on top of her and pawed at his back and hips like a madwoman.

“I told you I want it, fuck me. Give it to me.” She uttered almost out of breath, “It’s ok you won’t hurt me…”

He gasped out loud when he was finally inside her. “Goddammit.” He stayed still trying to process the feeling that was coming over him. She felt so good, no one had ever felt better.

“Move.” She cried out, wrapping her legs around him.

“You move.” He rolled over so that she was on top of him and watched as she began her slow torture of him now, moving slowly and deliberately. He brought his hands up to her hips to move her faster.

“Tell me you want it.”

“I want it.” He answered with his head falling back against the pillow and a look on his face of the sweetest agony he had ever felt.

“I’m gonna give it to you.” She moved her hips over his and reached down to kiss him.

He brought his hands to her hair and bucked his hips into her and held her close to keep kissing her. He never wanted to stop kissing her and that thought blew his mind and he came screaming an embarrassing string of profanity as she collapsed on top of him.

After they lay there a few minutes catching their breath and letting the sweat from their bodies drip over them he brought her face up so he could look into her eyes.

“Forever, for always and no matter what.” He whispered to her, as he pulled her close to fall asleep.


	16. Dating in the Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just some fluff and drama LOL.

Every day Daryl was gone before sun up to meet Merle and Rick for a walk around the perimeter at sun up. They had all settled into a little routine the first few weeks, everyone had a job to do. 

It was time to check the fences and make sure their loved ones would be safe. The day went fast as they worked together securing any loose parts of the fence, this was home now and they all had people to protect.

They worked together almost every day like this, doing one chore or another, it was a big place, they were lucky to be there and Herschel couldn’t do it all himself. Rick, Merle and Daryl were taking care of chores around the farm. Mina and Beth helped with Carl and Sophia, keeping them occupied and trying to do some sort of school work with them out on the back porch a few hours a day.

Maggie and Glenn went on regular runs when more supplies were needed, but she also had Lori and Andrea helping her cook. They had abundant vegetables and stores of wheat, rice flour and even coffee. Herschel had been a low key prepper, and had a room in the basement chocked full of canned goods, olive oil and pasta.

Shane had decided that he would teach self defense with guns and knives to anyone who had no experience with those things, and it was fine with everyone. It kept him busy and away from them, he and Daryl had unfinished business though and eventually it was going down. 

At lunchtime Andrea brought them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made on bread that Maggie had taught her how to make that morning.

“Where’s Mina?” Daryl had asked, gratefully shoving the sandwich into his mouth.

“She’s taking a nap,” Andrea had answered, “She said you had a surprise for her tonight and she wanted to be rested.”

“Ain’t she had enough of that surprise of yours yet?” Merle cackled.

“Zip it,” Daryl answered over his shoulder and that just made Merle laugh harder.

“Thanks for the grub Andrea,” Rick said as Merle hugged her to him, all around him were happy couples, he used to be part of one. Of course they had their differences from time to time and got into their share of fights, but it had never occurred to him not to be with Lori.

Even if this baby wasn’t his, he was going to stay with her, if that was what she wanted. 

////////////////////////////////////////

Lori walked out the front door onto the porch and looked out over the farm. It was truly beautiful and they were blessed, but as she gripped the railings on the porch she saw Shane heading her way. It was time to face the music, she had avoided him all day. He had taken some of the inexperienced people out to practice shooting a few miles away and had been gone a long time.

But now he was back, he had missed dinner but he looked fired up for a fight now. She was expecting it

Obviously he was coming to talk to her, Glenn had told her that he made a mistake and said the wrong thing that morning; she met him halfway.

“Glenn mentioned his little errand you sent him on…” He hissed at her.

“Listen,” Lori pleaded as she fell in step with him as he headed to his tent.

“I ain't got nothing to say to you, I know you’re gonna try and pass it off as his.”

“He knows,” She answered and Shane stopped dead in his tracks, slowly he turned to face her, “But it’s his, even if it isn’t it is. Do you understand me?”

Lori backed up as he got right in her face, “We’ll see about that.” 

Then he was gone inside his tent leaving her scared, she had never seen him act that way. His eyes were pitch dark and showed no emotion, she turned and ran back towards the house as fast as she could. It was getting dark and suddenly she didn’t want to be alone out there with him.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl had been acting shady all afternoon after they came back from the fence work around 2pm. Usually he could never keep a secret, before the turn Mina always knew when he was up to something. Daryl was as transparent as glass. He had told her last night to be ready for a date, but as he led her back behind the barn after dinner she wondered what he was up to.

What kind of date could you have in the apocalypse? And why would you even want to, the world was a scary place now. She was safe with him though, she knew that. He had left right after dinner, then returned for her fifteen minutes later.

He had insisted she close her eyes and he had led her by the hand out the door, and across the farm. Sometimes he could be so romantic, his gruff exterior was what he showed the world, but she saw a very different side of him. 

Andrea and Carol had remarked in passing that he had been nasty to everyone in the beginning. It seemed like he wanted to just be alone, and he would often leave for days to go hunting. Merle has always thought he was looking for her too. They had been only five miles apart for three months and never knew it.

“Ok open your eyes.” He whispered and when she did she could not believe her eyes. Daryl had filled the back of the pick up truck with blankets and pillows. To give them some light he had lit a few taper candles and they were placed on the truck in spaces between the bed and the wheels. 

She knew exactly what he was doing now, and she was struck again right in the chest by how much she loved him and how much time they had wasted. 

When they were dating they often went to the drive in and cuddled under the stars this way. Usually they had wine or beer and, this time he had some apple juice, she couldn’t have wine anyway and there wasn’t any.

Herschel was not a drinker, and so alcohol was not allowed on his property. 

“Oh my God, Daryl.” She brought her hand to her mouth, her mind flooded with memories of the early days of their marriage. They never had much money while she was still in school, so they had to be creative sometimes. Going to the drive in was one of the cheap things they could do.

They would make popcorn at home and bring it with them and eat it there to save money. They had been so poor and so happy.

“A Walk To Remember is playing tonight, right over there.” He pointed to the trees as he helped her to the back of the truck, “You see it?”

She grinned wide, “I see it.” she answered as she and Daryl settled back against the pillows and he put his arm around her, “Imagine the odds that my favorite movie would be playing tonight.”

“Here’s your popcorn, extra butter no salt,” Daryl continued, pretending to hand her a bucket of popcorn. Mina accepted it and played along, she remembered this TV show where two characters on a deserted island pretended to eat peanut butter. Daryl was doing the same thing for her that the man on the show did for his girl.

They were never going to be apart again, no matter what. They talked and laughed together under the stars that night drinking apple juice and eating pretend popcorn oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.


	17. Longer Than Forever

They laid out under the stars for a long time that night, long after the Moon was high in the sky holding hands and talking about everything that had happened both before and after. They were never going to be apart again and soon there was going to be a baby. Daryl still couldn’t believe this was really real, often he caught himself seeking Mina out during the day, as if he thought she would disappear.

He was always so relieved that she was still there. She did the same, waiting for him to return every day from the days work with her heart in her throat. It just took one wrong move

Soon it would be getting cold at night, there was talk of people moving into the farm house before winter, especially Lori. Herschel had come around pretty quick to letting the newcomers in, even if he didn’t want to at first. All it had taken was knowing Lori was expecting, he’d always had a soft spot for babies.

Herschel had no problem giving her shelter and she would need a nice clean bed to sleep in too. Mina would have their baby first, and Daryl had expressed trepidation because there was no hospital anymore. It scared him but Mina had assured him that her body knew what to do, and Maggie would be there to help her.

Mina teased him about passing out watching the birth and that added some levity to the situation. Merle would never let him forget it if that happened.

“What do you miss about before all this happened?” She asked him as they turned to look at each other in the moonlight. It had been a sweet night, one that both of them had needed just to be alone and talk. Life on the farm was exhausting, there was always something to fix, chores to be done and most nights they fell into bed half asleep before their heads even hit the pillow.

Mina was starting to need more sleep and often laid down in the afternoons too. Once he couldn’t find her and was half out of his mind before he thought to look for her there. She had been in bed, fast asleep, oblivious to his terror. He explained it to her and from that day on she let someone know if Daryl wasn’t around when she went to take a nap.

“What do you miss?” He countered.

“Sunday mornings and your french pressed coffee,” MIna answered right away. That made Daryl smile, of all things for her to hold dear, he hadn’t thought it would be that. Every Sunday they both had the day off and when they lived together they would sleep late, then cook breakfast together, complete with french pressed coffee, which she had never had before she met Daryl.

Sometimes after the divorce he would still bring it to her on Sunday mornings. Then they would sit out on the front steps and talk about their week and their lives, even after all of it they had been great friends.

Those were happy memories for him too, and it was those happy memories, like Sunday mornings that made it so hard for him to let her go. They had never fallen out of love with each other, not for one minute; that had not been the problem. 

He took the time to do little things like that, things that she remembered and missed long before the dead rose. People wouldn't know it to look at him, but there was much more than the gruff side he had always let people see. More and more it was becoming clear to everyone that the reason he had been so ornery and so angry was because he had been grieving

“Then laying on the couch all day watching HGTV,” He finished, that was what they did every Sunday since they met. 

“Going to bed early…: She grinned as she turned her body towards him. She worked early shifts at the hospital and he had never made her go to bed alone. Even though the shop opened a full hour after she had been at work and already gotten report, Daryl insisted on turning in at the same time as she.

“That was my favorite part of Sundays,” His eyes lit up in the darkness with mischief.

“Taking naps,” Mina sighed, “Milkshakes…”

“Your cream of broccoli soup,” He smiled and brushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear.

“Drinking wine by the fire pit talking about all the things we wanted to do to the house because you watched too much Fixer Upper.”

He hugged her close to him, “We were so happy then, and I’m so grateful to whatever God brought you back to me.”

“We are never going to be apart again.” She placed her hands on his cheeks, “I promise, not for one day, where you go, I go.”

They kissed sweetly and in the brush to the right of them Shane huffed to himself, he was tired of losing women when their men came back. Tired of being used and thrown away like he didn’t matter at all. He had been walking to his tent when he heard these two love birds carrying on like they were at a drive in movie like a couple of idiots. 

A few more minutes and Daryl would sniff him out with that tracker’s nose of his so he got out of there quick. Tonight he had bigger fish to fry anway, fuck these two.

He turned on his heel and walked away hoping to catch Lori alone to talk again. There were things they needed to talk about, the baby was his and that was that. Dixon had warned him off Mina the day before when she was hanging laundry and he had been caught just admiring the view like any other guy would.

“That’s my wife you were eyeballing Walsh!”

“Merle said she divorced your ass.” He answered as Daryl turned and glared at him, Shane was bigger than him but he gave zero fucks, “Maybe you…”

“Maybe you should back off of women that aren’t available…”

“Come closer and say that!” Shane taunted and in one second Daryl was in his face and snarling.

“You go near my wife, if you even look at her sideways; I will beat your ass!” He stood eyeball to eyeball with the other man right in his face. Across the driveway Merle saw what was going down and was on his way over to break it up.

But Shane had turned and walked away, just as he had this time too, because it was obvious these two dumbasses were about to get it on out here in the woods. That was something he wasn’t interested in seeing, the resentment grew with each happy couple he came across. 

“I don’t miss paying the mortgage,” Daryl had laughed, “Or alarm clocks.”

“I don’t miss cell phones, or mindless reality TV. But I miss our bed, that tulu mattress was the bomb.”

“It was, but any bed that you are in is the one I want to be in.” He pulled her closer to him and she fit just right as always.

“Are you ready to go back?” 

“Not just yet,” Daryl rolled onto his back and played with the hem of her shirt with a gleam in his eye,, “Wanna have you all to myself just a little while longer.”

Then he was pulling her shirt over her head. Mina wasn’t wearing a bra and his eyes almost rolled into the back of his head as if it was the first time he had seen her. She was perfect, all he ever wanted in this world.

Slowly he brought his hand up over her stomach and from her ribs to her breast and she surrendered completely to his touch without reservation; he could feel the heat coming from her in waves. It was so incredibly arousing to him how her body was changing now and how she responded to him.

Daryl leaned down and kissed her again as his fingers stroked the side of her breast softly. His touch was gentle and she was melting under his warm hands, softly he kissed down her neck, hot and wet and watched the goose bumps break out along her skin.

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered in the moonlight.

Mina sighed in pleasure as he kissed and licked his way down to her other breast zeroing in quickly on her nipple grazing his teeth against it first, then licking with his firm tongue. His hand brushed against her other side, over her ribcage to her breast and she let out a sound so primal it almost alarmed her.

“Oh fuck, Daryl, fuck, fuck, I love you.” She groaned, reaching her hand into his hair and grabbing a handful and pulling him up to kiss her hot and dirty. He kept his other hand on her breast still making circles with his fingers all around her nipple. He kissed her thoroughly, and between hot kisses and his hands Mina could feel the familiar ache building between her legs.

“Oh, baby I love you so much.” Daryl groaned against her neck, his hands inching towards her sweatpants.

“Don’t stop.” She panted out, “Please don’t stop,” She reached for his belt buckle to unbuckle his pants, her hands fumbling with the belt and buttons. He had too many clothes on, she needed his skin against hers.

“I won’t. I won’t.” He promised in between kisses and helping her unbutton his jeans, then his hands were right back to the waistband of her sweatpants. Daryl reached down and slid his fingers against the material of her panties and her knees fell apart and against the bed of the truck. She was malleable to his touch at the first contact, without hesitation or uncertainty as if they had never been estranged or apart.

Mina was halfway there already and he’d barely touched her, and now that he was touching her, even over her clothes, she was ready to explode.

Her heart was beating out of her chest and she felt like she was burning up, Mina pulled her hand through her hair and it was damp against her forehead already. Daryl didn’t stop and the feeling of him against her at the same time made her weak with need.

There was something about him and the way he made her feel that was always so overwhelming to her senses and body. Nothing had changed and never would for her, he was the one.

She raised her hips to shimmy out of her pants and pulled at his jeans in a fever until they both had nothing else on.

His eyes went down to her hip where there was a tattoo of a butterfly done in purple and pink, he’d seen it a million times before. Daryl always brought his lips down over her stomach slowly, leaving wet kisses along the way and kissed the tattoo. Then his hands were on her thighs bringing them apart slowly.

“This is gonna be so good, sweetheart.” He whispered in that gravely, whiskey hot voice that made all the hair stand up on her body.

Mina exhaled as she felt his fingers on her and then his lips, then his tongue. She buried her hands in his hair and hung on while he completely turned her into a quivering, screaming lunatic.

As he always did Daryl licked greedily and with purpose as if he was struck with an unquenchable thirst for her that wouldn’t be satisfied until she fell completely apart.

Then she was reaching for him with desperate and frantic hands until he was right there. She pulled his face to hers and placed eager kisses on his lips, rocking herself against him.

“Do it.” She breathed out. “Now.”

She spread her legs apart and pulled him down on top of her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“Mina…I.” She wouldn’t wait for another second, she moved against him and pulled him inside her then rolled them so she was on top of him. “Fuuccckkk.”

She gasped out a breath and neither of them moved, the sweat from both of their bodies mixed and they glided against each other slowly. He looked up at her, and she was framed by the dark sky and the stars.

“Tell me you’ll love me forever…” Mina leaned down to kiss him.

“I’ll love you for longer than forever…”

Daryl reached down between them to stroke her again before he let himself go completely. He had to feel it, he had to feel her body let go while he was inside her. There was no one around, they could be loud if they wanted.

“Come on sweetheart,” He pleaded. “Give it to me.”

Then he felt it and he heard it as she screamed out his name and he followed her over the cliff and into oblivion. In the distance Shane was still walking towards the farm house to find Lori and let her know how it was going to be, it was muffled in the wind, but he knew what the sound was.

“Fuckin asshole,” He mumbled under his breath.


	18. Trouble All Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long. I got a bit distracted by another ZA story that wanted to be told, Beautiful Thing. Also have a new Mac story brewing called Steel Toed Boots, so look for those :). I've been writing just nothing to post until today. XOxoxoxoxox Love you all!!

The next morning Daryl and Rick were up early and took a walk before anyone else was awake. Daryl had always been an early riser and she had always loved her sleep. Mina had stirred when he left the bed but he dressed quickly, looking at her sleeping there, thanking whatever higher power he had to for bringing her back to him. It could have easily gone another way. 

She stirred under the comforter and rolled a bit, and he caught a glimpse of her belly. That was his child she was carrying, he didn’t realize he was that guy, but he was. It turned him on so much and it was all he could do not to wake her up right that second. 

As he turned to go Daryl remembered how he had mourned her, how lost he had felt at the thought of her being dead. He didn’t care if he lived or died without her. She was and always would be the only woman for him.

Early during the first few weeks he and Merle were on the road and even after they hooked up with the others at the quarry, Daryl had thought about suicide. He had seriously contemplated a bolt to the head; but they were together and having a baby, he shook his head to clear any negative thoughts as he came down the stairs.

Rick was up sitting on the deck drinking coffee when Daryl came out and they decided to walk the perimeter. They did that almost every day. Both of them felt that the fences needed to be reinforced, there were parts that were falling down and it bothered both of them.

The dead or another type of enemy could easily sneak up on them. Rick, Daryl and Merle were all in agreement about that. Herschel agreed as well, Shane was not around much so his input had not been considered.

“Yeah Lori’s pregnant…” Rick said after a bit, when they were far enough away from the house so that no one could possibly overhear.

“Oh,” Daryl turned to shake his hand, “Congr…”

“Thanks man, but the timeline is off.” Rick replied and both men went silent for a few beats. They both knew what that meant and it occurred to Daryl this might get Shane's thoughts off of Mina which would be good for him. Still, he felt badly for his friend.

“You sure?”

Rick nodded, “She thought I was dead those first few days.”

“Yeah she did…” Daryl reassured him, both Lori and Carl had been devastated just as he himself had been over the loss of Mina. The three of them had been like sleepwalkers those first few days after Atlanta had been bombed. Everyone had been shell shocked and the displaced people without their families had been broken, Daryl had been broken, he assumed Lori had been too.

“What if Mina was…and it wasn't yours?"

“If you had asked me before the turn I would have said something totally different if it wasn’t my kid. Because I could never control the green eyed monster when it came to Mina and went crazy if anyone even looked at her. Which is funny since I met her at a strip club…”

Rick’s eyes widened.

“She danced when she was in college to pay for it. That’s how we met, Merle paid her to give me a lap dance.”

Rick could not stop his laughter, this was the funniest meet cute he had ever heard, “And you were the jealous type?”

“Yeah, I was. But now? I would be so glad we were back together, life without her was a nightmare. I’d take her anyway I could get her. I just wanted to die without her.”

“She feels the same obviously.” Rick replied, “That was some reunion.”

“Yeah, she does.”

“Merle said you guys got divorced and were still seeing each other?”

“It was complicated.” Daryl laughed and Rick smiled at that. All relationships were complicated, they both knew how hard a marriage could be even in the best of times.

"See that's the thing, I know Lori thought I was dead, and needed something, well someone. It's not the same thing. I saw how you were then, and how you are now. She didn't bring another man to her bed, and months went by…"

"You can't compare, Mina and I had real problems before." Daryl explained, “We were not together.”

“But you love each other still, through all of that.” Rick answered, “Did you sleep with anyone else? Did she?”

“No,” He replied, “Just each other, but that was never our problem. Mina and I could have not been on speaking terms, could have been fighting like cats and dogs and we’d still sleep together.”

“That’s wild…” Rick laughed, he and Lori had that once, when they were first married. They loved each other madly, and maybe they could get that back again if they both worked hard at it.

“Can’t believe I just told you that,” Daryl ran his hand through his hair, “She’d kill me if she knew.”

“I appreciate your frankness, was that why you got divorced.”

“Yeah, that’s what she divorced me, I didn’t show up at court, I blocked it in every way I could. It still happened despite my best efforts.”

“Things just happen, despite our best efforts…”

“They do, but now we don’t have the luxury or time for hurt feelings and drama…”

“I guess we don’t.”

The two men continued their walk as the sun came up, taking note of which parts of the fence needed repair and thinking of what supplies they might need to get soon.

//////////////////////////////////////

Lori successfully avoided Shane the evening before when he was on a rampage after seeing Mina and Daryl out in the woods like a couple of teenagers. She had seen him coming out of the woods and made herself scarce for the rest of the night. 

She wasn’t that lucky the next morning as she made her way into the kitchen to start breakfast after Rick and Daryl set out for their perimeter check. Shane pulled her back into an alcove and got her against the wall.

“Listen to me,” He demanded as Lori squirmed to get out of his grip, “I’m not giving up on us, on this baby, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Get off me Shane,” She pushed at his chest and he gripped her arms tight, almost lifting her off her feet.

He set her down with a thump and she almost stumbled, “You’ll never get rid of me,” He sneered, and then he was gone. Lori turned and ran up the stairs to Mina and Daryl’s room and tapped on the door frantically.

“Mina?” She tapped some more, “Mina, can I come in?”

The door opened and Mina was shocked at how pale Lori looked, “Are you ok?”

“No,” Lori walked in and sat on the bed, “I need help…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and let me know what you think :)


	19. Three Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, it’s been a rough few months. I am presently recovering from covid that I caught at work. As most of you know I am a nurse and have been on the frontline of this thing since day one. I was diagnosed last week and have been quarantined and recovering for a week. Today I updated three stories, so finally feeling better. Xoxoxox love you all!!

Daryl was still out walking the field with Rick but she needed him now! Maybe he could talk to Shane as an unbiased party? All she knew was that she needed him, he was the only person she wanted to lean on now. Mina went to the window and saw the two men in the distance, once she got Lori settled they needed to go talk to them.

Jealousy was a terrible beast and she knew that all too well, but this was even worse than Daryl ever thought of being. Lori said Shane was unhinged and Mina believed it, he had a look in his eye lately that was clear, it was rage.

“We have to tell Rick,” Mina stated, “And Daryl, this is not good.”

“I’m so scared, and so sorry.” Lori trembled and Mina was sure the other woman was about to pass out. She and Lori were not the same, Mina was always the one who kept a cool head and she and Daryl played off of each other nicely because of that, and sometimes not so nicely. But Lori was panicked and scared. 

“Sit, sit,” Mina instructed and took her by the hand. It took a minute for Lori to get all the details out, but what she told Mina gave her concern. She had gotten a vibe from Shane from the minute she met him, and she didn’t really like him that much.

He was nice enough on the porch that night but he was predatory too, Mina did not like the way he looked at her that night. Part of her thought maybe he recognized her from when she was a dancer, that happened sometimes, although not since the world ended.

Lori sat down on the bed and Mina joined her. “You can never be alone with him and neither can Rick, you understand?”

“He’s so jealous and out of control,” Lori sobbed and Mina wrapped her arms around her new friend. Mina was not one to be friendly with other women, simply because she never had time, now it was different and she thought of Lori as a friend, as well as Carol and Maggie too.

“I totally understand, there was a time when Daryl was like that. You can’t reason with someone in that state.”

“It’s all my fault…I slept with him...”

“No,” Mina insisted, “It’s time that we stop blaming women for the actions of men who can't control themselves. If it’s one thing I don’t miss from the old world it's the blatant and cruel misogyny. Those days are over.”

“I let another person into my marriage…”

“And I used to take off my clothes for money, what’s your point?”

Lori shut up when she said that; it was true, the old world judged and blamed women for their sexuality and their bodies, Mina was over it. Lori took a deep cleansing breath and then Mina continued.

“That's how I met Daryl and I fucked him on the first date, you know why?”

Lori shook her head, amused by her friend's words.

“Because I wanted to, women are allowed to make decisions about their bodies if they want to, and no one gets to shame them for it, you got me?”

“I think so,” Lori gave her a wain smile, Mina was a force to be reckoned with, no wonder Daryl had been so miserable without her.

“You don’t blame yourself because that man can’t take no for an answer, that is not your fault, even if you once said yes. Now you are saying no and that’s what matters. Now let's go find our men.”

//////////////////////////////////////////

It was late afternoon when Daryl and Rick were standing at the fence on the far end of the property when they spotted Lori and Mina coming their way. From where they stood the two of them looked like they were on a mission. 

The two men had been out most of the day repairing and reinforcing the fence line and Mina had taken a nap in the early afternoon. Her body was changing and at six months pregnant she was tired all of the time and becoming awkward, but she still walked with that determined step she had always had as long as Daryl had known her.

“Here comes trouble,” Rick observed while shielding his eyes from the sun.

“Looks like we’re the ones in trouble.” Daryl countered as he ran his fingers through his hair. Then he stepped forward as the two women came closer, “Hey baby what's going on?” 

“A lot,” Mina answered as Daryl pulled her into his arms.

“Rick it’s about Shane…” Lori started.

“I know, of course I know…”Rick replied and followed Daryl’s lead by taking her in his arms. Now was not the time to be cruel. His own feelings would have to take a backseat right now for the good of everyone.

In other times his reaction would have been different, but petty jealousy had no place at the end of the world.

“I’ll talk to him and see if we can’t come to some kind of agreement,” Rick replied and Lori was shaking her head.

“It’s way past that.” Lori advised, “He thinks he deserves me, and Carl and this baby, I’m afraid he’d do something crazy.”

“Then we’re not gonna give him the chance…” Daryl replied as the four of them started to walk back towards the farm as the sun started to dip down in the late afternoon.

“I think we have to find a way to all live here together,” Rick took Lori’s hand as they walked, “I don’t want our son to see us behaving badly over one mistake.”

“It was a mistake...and I am so, so sorry.”

“Shhh,” Rick slung his arm over her shoulder as they walked back, “It’s going to be fine.”

Behind them Daryl and Mina walked hand in hand. She knew that Rick had been angry with Lori when they first arrived but as he spent more time with Daryl it seemed he was leaning more towards forgiveness. It was a good policy, life was too short for anything else now, they all had to stick together stand or fall.

//////////////////////////////

Shane was sitting by the fire ignoring everyone as the four of them approached. Daryl and Mina hung back as Rick and Lori both went and sat down with him. Daryl and Mina continued over to where Maggie and Carol were cutting vegetables at a little table on the porch.

The conversation between the three of them was long, heated at times but never got out of hand. Carl and Sophia were playing nearby and were oblivious to the very adult conversation that was going on just a few feet away.


	20. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of gratuitous smut ahead.

Lori, Rick and Shane reached a standstill, but he was staying for the time being and not being left out of their lives. He and Carl had become close while Rick was missing and the couple assured him there would be no change at all. The three of them would need to navigate these new waters carefully. It was as much for Carl’s sake as for theirs. Shane had always been in his life, even before the turn, there was no way to explain him leaving without hurting the boy.

The three of them were putting their adult drama away for the sake of Carl and the baby that was coming. There was no other way as far as any of them were concerned once they got a chance to talk rationally. It was not going to be easy, not by any stretch of the imagination. But the three of them were committed to doing this.

Lori had come to Mina after ward and shared with her the pact that the three of them had made. It seemed reasonable, considering the situation they were all in but she could never see Daryl going for any kind of situation like that. Lucky for her this wasn’t their relationship.

Mina laid in the hammock on the porch watching Daryl walk across the driveway to meet up with Merle. He had on the angel wing vest and a sleeveless shirt, and she rolled over to get a better view.

“Hate to see you leave, love to watch you go…” She murmured to herself.

She had known him in some capacity all her life and just a few weeks ago she thought he was lost forever. It was a miracle they had found each other again and she would never squander that. They had spent too much time apart already both before and after the turn.

As she watched him and Merle working on one of the cars she remembered once when they were teenagers at the quarry where Daryl and the other group had ended up camping. Daryl and his friend Charlie Pace were hanging down by the water smoking. She and one of her friends were floating on a raft in the water checking out all of the guys there.

“That one is gonna break a lot of hearts one day…” Her friend said, pointing at Daryl and Charlie in their board shorts sitting in beach chairs by the water's edge.

“Chelsea he’s like 14 stop it!” 

“He’s cute, I’d take him for a spin when he’s older…”

“You're ridiculous,” She kicked water at her friend.

“You can have Daryl, I’ll take Charlie…”

“What’s wrong with you?” She laughed. As Chelsea lowered her glasses, watching Daryl stand up and walk over towards the side of the quarry bed to bury his cigarette in the sand.

“Oh baby boy come to Mamma,” Chelsea laughed, “Come on Mina just imagine him in five or six years…”

Mina shook her head, “No way.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////

A few years later Mina did see him again, quite by accident, she almost didn’t recognize him, Chelsea’s prediction was on the money. It was her first year of college and was May 4th, Daryl’s Eighteenth birthday. Three years later he would have quite a different birthday with Mina, his 21st would change their lives, but neither of them knew this at the time.

It was a warm day and he had some Nirvana on, ‘About a Girl’ was playing on the radio and so far his birthday had been a bust. Merle had gone out the night before and never came home so he was out looking for him.

Daryl was coming down the road on a short cut or he wouldn’t have seen her sitting there on the hood of that old green Jag she used to drive. She was dressed in her scrubs for clinicals at school and leaning on her knees with her elbows looking so beautiful sitting there.

Mina had been sitting out there and sweating for half an hour waiting for Tyreese Johnson to come to tow her car when Daryl pulled up, and she lowered her glasses to get a better look at him.

He was a man now, not a boy.

Daryl waved as he got out of the truck and she jumped down off the hood of her car.

“Mina, what’s going on?”

“Christine here decided she wasn’t going to go anymore.”

“You got a tow coming?”

“I called Axel’s, he’s sending Tyreese.” She said leaning against the car. “Been waiting a hot minute though.”

He laughed, Ty was not known for rushing that was for sure. He leaned against the car with her, they might be here a while and he wasn’t leaving her out here alone. From behind his ear he took out a cigarette and lit it.

“I know you don’t want to leave your baby here alone, I’ll just wait with you.”

“I’m fine Daryl really.”

“Ain’t got nothing else to do, it’s ok.” He shrugged.

They spent the next half hour catching up but he had been too shy to ask for her number, when Merle found out later that day he didn’t let Daryl forget it the entire night.

He wouldn’t forget it though, he wanted to go look for her but Daryl said she went to school in Atlanta and Charlie had said she had a boyfriend anyway. It was a lost cause and Daryl was far too insecure to try and come between her and another guy.

//////////////////////////////////////////

They didn’t see each other again until he was 21 and then it had been all different. Mina watched him all day thinking about their life and the past. He truly was the love of her life. She fell into a deep sleep in the hammock out back but woke up nauseous and threw up. She grabbed a water bottle from the kitchen and took herself to bed in the late afternoon while everyone was still out doing chores.  
When he got to their room later Mina had just showered and was feeling better. Beth had let him know Mina wasn’t feeling well. But she assured him she felt better after taking a shower.

Entranced by her wet skin and hair Daryl backed Mina up against the far wall and insecurity now the farthest thing from his mind, that hadn’t been a thing with them since she took him home on his birthday all those years ago.

Leaving no mystery of his intentions as the sun was going down he reached for her, grabbed her ass and pulled her against his raging hard dick.

“Well hello to you too baby…” Sometimes he was like this back in the old world and it was a welcome surprise to Mina. If he was riled up about something at work sometimes he wanted to blow off steam and she was all too willing.

When he started talking shit she was usually a goner after that. 

“You want this, baby?” He pulled her closer and she moaned.

Her head rolled back against the wall and she dragged her eyes over to his, “You know I do...”

Daryl hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He brought his lips to her ear and ran his tongue over her earlobe, “You want my cock inside you Mina?” He breathed into her ear and his hot breath made her hair tingle. He made every part of her tingle, always.

Her fingers were in his hair and Mina was nodding her head vigorously, he adjusted her body in his arms and ran a hand over her breast as he held her up against the wall. His other hand worked under her t-shirt so he could get to what he really wanted, then he swiped his hand across her panties and felt the dampness that was forming there.

“I heard you had a rough day…”

Mina nodded, she had been feeling tired, a little sick, but now was much better.

“Better now, is this ok?”

She replied by digging her hands into his hair and kissing him hard.

Groaning low in his chest and pulling his hand from under her shirt Daryl met her eyes, palmed her breast and felt her nipple harden under her shirt, and he grinned, “I'm gonna make you forget all about all of that,” then his lips were there and she was crying out in pleasure.

“Oh fuck Daryl, yes!” She pressed herself against him and he rolled his hips against her obscenely. She could feel his dick, hard as a rock and now she was desperate for it, Mina whined as she felt his cock grinding against her panties and she was ready to explode from the feeling.

“Shhhhhhhh we don’t need everybody hearin us do we darlin?”

His tongue slid along her skin where he had pulled her shirt aside to get to her breast then he sucked hard on her nipple and her eyes rolled back into her head. Then she was sliding down the wall and he was lowering her down to the floor and crawling over her. This time they didn't even make it to the bed.

“Take 'em off,” He motioned to her and she slipped her panties down her legs as he watched with hooded, passion filled eyes and tossed them across the room. Mina grinned as Daryl set her feet flat on the floor and pushed her knees apart, she knew what he was up to.

“That's fuckin nice baby,” Daryl muttered as he explored the skin on her inner knee with his lips. Daryl always went slow, making it almost an art of driving her to the brink of madness until all she could think of was his hot, wet mouth. Her hands reached for his pants and she grabbed his dick in her hand but he pushed it away, “Not yet...”

“Mmmmmm...” She dug her fingers into his hair again and pulled because he was freak and liked his hair pulled and she was happy to oblige him, she could feel his fingers gripping her thighs and spreading her legs wider. Her eyes closed softly as she felt him lick her inner thigh, instinctively she pulled her legs to close them and was met with a smack on the side of her ass.

“Keep 'em open,” He growled and continued sucking his way down her thigh towards her pussy nice and slow, “You close them again and I'm putting you over my knee, you got that?”

She didn't answer and he lay another smack on her ass then rubbed her skin where it was starting to redden, then one more smack.

“Mina...” He growled.

“I got it,” She moaned, there was no way she was closing her legs now anyway, she could feel the anticipation stirring in her belly, as his head dipped under her skirt and she felt his lips close around her clit like some kind of homing device, Daryl's hands were on her inner thighs keeping her legs open as he licked down and pushed his tongue inside her.

“That's a good girl, “ He pulled her legs over his shoulders and went back at it and soon she was panting and squirming just the way he liked her to be.

Already she could feel it building, and coming fast like a fireball, just a few seconds more... and he stopped, she let out a moan of frustration, she hated when he did that, she loved when he did that, “Ommmfffff... what the fu...” She whispered.

“Shhhhhhh...” Was all he would say, but he smiled a devilish grin at her. Then she felt his fingers inside her, inching towards the spot and his lips were back down where she wanted and all coherent thought left her brain along with all the blood that was now rushing between her legs.

“Oh, God...” She moaned.

“That's it, sweetheart, give it to me...” He slid his finger along her clit slow as molasses, added his tongue just to drive her crazy, “Come on, come on Mina, come on...fuckin cum all over me baby,” He could feel her start to tremble and he loved that, he reached up and palmed her breast again and she came undone, trying to be quiet incase anyone else was in the house. Daryl didn't let up until she was well and truly spent and he had licked every inch of her and drank every drop.

Then he obscenely licked each finger as he watched her coming down from the high.

She barely caught her breath and he had her by the hand and was flipping her on to her stomach, then pulled her up against him with his arm around her waist. His lips were at her ear and she shook in his arms in anticipation, it wasn't over, not by a long shot; Daryl was a great fuck, every time.

“How you want it?” He slid his hands up over her breasts and pulled her against him, his body was so firm against her soft flesh, “Rough?”

“Yes...” She murmured.

“I can't hear you baby...say it” He demanded as he wound his hand into her hair.

“Yes...”

“Yes, what?” He pulled her head back by her hair and nipped at her neck, bringing his lips to hers and kissing her. Daryl was a dirty kisser, he fucked her mouth with his tongue and brought his teeth down on her lower lip, “Tell me what you want...” He groaned into her ear, winding her hair around his hand and pulling again, not too hard, but hard enough.

With his other hand, Daryl massaged her breasts as he held her against him and she swore she was about to cum again. It was building again inside of her just from his words and his touch.

“Yes... hard,” She moaned, “Fuck me hard...”

Happy to oblige a lady he shucked his shirt and pants off and was inside her in an instant, “Oh Christ Almighty...” He groaned as he pushed further still holding her around the waist, “Fuck yes, oh fuck yes!!!”

She was hot and wet and so tight around him, the sounds she was making were pushing him to the brink again. There was no thought of anything but her on his mind, her body felt amazing, it always did.

There was a thin sheen of sweat building on each of them as he fucked her harder and harder, they were on the floor but neither of them noticed as their lust for each other took over every part of the encounter. 

“Oh fuck Mina take this cock baby, take it all...”

“Give. It. To. Me.” She groaned.

He filled her completely, then flipped them over so he was on top of her and no longer taking her from behind. He slowed down and teased her, rolling his hips slowly, lowering the pace and staring into her eyes.

“You're gonna cum again...” He moaned, letting his eyes close in complete bliss, reaching down between them, “I gotta feel it...”

“I can't...I can't take it baby...”

“You will!” He commanded in a low deep growl, reaching his fingers up to roll her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, as he pushed his pelvis against her clit, “You will.., goddammit, you will...”

Daryl brought his lips to her other nipple and slid his tongue over it and Mina arched her back in exquisite pleasure, it was clear on her face. She looked into his eyes, and moaned at the feeling of his huge dick inside of her. This was just what she needed and he always made it so good.

“Oh please Daryl...” She groaned, unable to stop the words from spilling from her mouth, she babbled like a fool when he had her under his control..

“Please what?” He slid his thumb over her clit nice and slow and she started to shake, “Please what Mina?”

“I gotta cum.”

“Not till I say you can...” He gave the lightest of touches around her pussy, teasing her mercilessly and back to the bundle of nerves that was her whole world at the moment, “Don't... don't cum till I say you can.”

“Please, please please,..” She was overwhelmed by his perfect cock and expert touch and needed release so desperately she begged him for it. Daryl loved to make her beg.

“Not yet...”

“Fuck!!!” She rolled her head from side to side and he watched the blush on her skin creep over her chest, she was beautiful, even more beautiful than when they were kids together.

Sweat dripped from his hairline onto her chest as he held here there at the brink and refused her just a little longer before finally stroking her just right, feeling her walls contract around him hard and pulling a fucking mind blowing orgasm from him. Daryl muffled a scream, and it seemed to go on forever until he collapsed on top of her in a sweaty mess.

He laid down next to her on his back as their breathing returned to normal after a few minutes and Daryl looked over at her and smiled.

"Love you baby…" He sighed and took her hand.

“Love you too…”


	21. Changed

Mina woke up with a start the morning the contractions came, it was still dark and Daryl was asleep beside her. He always slept soundly now that they were together again. Even before the turn he had told her he had not had a good night sleep since they separated. They were so lucky to have found each other again. 

She ran her fingers through his hair contemplating if she should wake him, first babies often took hours to be born. Quietly she got up out of bed and padded down the stairs to the kitchen. It was four am but Merle was up drinking coffee, getting ready to get out and work on the fences some more.

“What are you doing up so early sugar?”

“Can’t sleep…” 

“He still sleeping?” Merle asked as he handed her a glass of juice and Mina nodded, “Here drink this…”

Mina took a sip and then was struck with another contraction, and Merle knew exactly what was going on then. 

“Mina, isn’t it too early for this baby?”

“About four weeks from what I can figure, but I don’t think anyone told him or her…”

“Her, this is definitely a girl, starting the drama right away, she is…”

Mina smiled at that and ran her hand over her stomach, the baby was moving and kicking, but she was early. She wondered if they would be able to care for her if she needed extra things, they had only so many resources.

As if he could read her mind Merle slipped his arm around her shoulder, his work forgotten for the time being, “It’s going to be fine sweetheart, in a few hours I’m gonna meet my niece and I can’t wait…”

//////////////////////////////////////////

Soon the sun was up and people started to stir and soon she could no longer ignore the pains once her water broke all over the kitchen. After Daryl woke up, he gathered everyone together and started getting ready for the birth of their first baby. He hoped there would be more, for everyone. Life needed to go on. This was a start.

Mina began the day by walking around trying to speed up labor and by sunset Daryl was behind her on the bed on his knees holding her back and supporting her weight so she could sit up and Lori was down by her feet with Maggie and Herschel.

“Come on Mina, you're doing great,” He murmured into her ear trying to remain calm and keep her calm, not an easy job. She was in so much pain now and he had so much empathy for her, Daryl was not always known for empathy, it was not a word people associated with him when they first met him.

But she had brought him peace, and the past few months had been a blessing for both of them. Now they were about to receive the greatest blessing you could get, at the end of the world.

After they had been there for ten hours, Mina was relaxed in his arms and finally, something was happening. Everyone in the room was a buzz and she started crying.  
“I can't do this,” She cried, “I can't.”

The girls were right there to wipe the sweat off of her forehead and Daryl never left her side even when they told him it was OK and to get something to eat. All the while he encouraged her on.

“Yes you can, honey,” He continued, “I'm so proud of you...”

“I can’t Daryl,” Mina groaned.

“Yes you can baby, I’m right here,” Daryl soothed.

“I can see the head,” Lori reported and started to cry, “Oh she's almost here...”

Mina didn't even hear her words, her body was acting on its own. She was barely aware that Daryl was still holding her.

Merle was in the kitchen now but he had started a betting pool on the sex of the baby, and would do the same when baby Grimes arrived. Lori was on team girl, and she could see this baby’s head, with a ton of dark hair like Mina’s.

Herschel examined her and looked up at them making eye contact with her and Daryl behind her, “This is it, Mina, it's time to push again, just one more time.”

“No, I can't, no, no, no,” She fell back against Daryl and the veterinarian/doctor signaled him to sit her up again. Daryl raised up on his knees behind her and began lifting her in his strong arms, she was covered in sweat and shivering, he grabbed a blanket and placed it over her shoulders, “Stop it, Daryl, stop! I can't, I can't, I'm done!”

“Yes you can,” He whispered sweetly, “Yes you can, I know you can, just a little bit more, you're almost there, she’s almost here...”

“Stop!” She pushed down hard, “Being” She pushed again, bearing down as her face contorted and turned red. “So” One final push. “Nice!”

The baby was here, he was crying and so was everyone in the room.

“Oh fuck Mina, oh fuck, look at her,” Was all Daryl could say as they placed the baby on her chest and he wrapped them both in a blanket, “Fuck, she's beautiful.”  
He pulled her close to him and wrapped the blanket around all three of them as he settled in and felt a change wash over his entire life.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Hey there sweetheart, its Daddy,” He kissed the baby's cheek as he walked around the room holding him as if he held babies every day, he was a natural, “I got you now and I'm gonna make sure you never want for anything, I'm gonna take care of you and your Mom, I promise you that.”

Daryl paced the room holding his daughter and promising her the world, hoping he'd be able to follow through on all of it. If intention counted at all, he would be successful. 

Mina was there as soon as the baby stirred to feed her and Daryl reluctantly handed her over. Maggie had found a battery operated breast pump, so in a few days he’d be able to feed the baby too. 

For now re-positioned himself in the chair by the window, watched her get into bed holding the baby to feed her and gazed at both of them until the sun came up. There was nothing in this world more beautiful to him; nothing ever would be.

The baby was crying again, it seemed like he would never sleep through the night. The girl named Paulina after his mother had a set of lungs on her, that was for sure. It had been five weeks and Paulina never slept more than four hours at a clip, so neither did her parents. This was the cold reality of parenthood, you never felt like you had enough sleep, even during the apocalypse. Just when you settled down to close your eyes and rest, the baby would cry again.

Daryl and Mina learned that right away.

That was normal, especially for breastfeeding, in fact sometimes it was worse. Earlier that day Mina had pumped milk for bottles and Daryl rolled over as soon as the baby stirred in the bassinet. He was on high alert for any sound that kid made, fatherhood had changed him. Now he had something else to focus on besides himself, it felt strange and good to a boy who grew up with no love in his life.

“I got her, you sleep..." Daryl was out of the bed in a second, pulling on his pants halfway to the door and he almost didn't hear it. But he did, and he would always be glad he had heard it, Mina had sighed "I love you.." as she rolled back over and hunkered down under the covers.

Maybe she had been half asleep, and maybe she wasn't even aware she had said it. But he had never heard those words from anyone in his life but her, and it did something to him deep inside, he turned back from the door with his hand on the door jam and looked at her sleeping there, "I love you too,” He said quietly and went to get a bottle for their baby.

The END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I love you all!! There will be more to this story as I know I left some loose ends, but this is where I am stopping for now. This is their story, come full circle. If anyone has any suggestions on a sequel I am always open to ideas. xoxoxox Krissy

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think xxxx


End file.
